Cindy Ngamba has gone on an incredible journey from Cameroon, to fighting for the Refugee boxing team at the Olympics and meeting Andy Murray.
The gifted fighter excelled in Paris, winning a bronze medal in the women’s 75 kg division.
Cindy Ngamba reveals what it was really like to meet Andy Murray at the Olympics
At the age of just 11, Cindy Ngamba left her homeland to start a better life in Bolton, UK.
Growing up a soccer fan, the natural athlete knew nothing about the sport of boxing, until she stumbled across a gym, waltzed in, and changed her life forever.
It didn’t take long for Ngamba to start forging an excellent amateur career, with the warrior putting on tremendous displays across the country.
However, when the time came to qualify for the Olympics, she could not represent Team GB because she didn’t have a British passport.
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Consequently, the boxer, who’s a lesbian, and cannot return home without risk of imprisonment because homosexuality is illegal in her country, ended up fighting for the Refugee boxing team, for which she produced masterful performances to pick up the bronze medal.
During her time in the French capital, Ngamba realized just for far she’s come, meeting one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Knockout, she said: “The first time I saw Andy Murray was in the canteen. I was having my breakfast and talking to my teammates. Then, I turned left, and I saw him sitting there, just eating.
“I looked again and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, that’s Andy Murray’. Everyone looked at me like, ‘What’s wrong with this girl’? I’m like, ‘Guys, are you looking? Andy’s there’. I’m pointing at him. I said, ‘What’s he doing here at the canteen’? People looked at me like I was crazy.
“Obviously, he’s here to compete just like me. It’s mad when you think about all these legends in the same room as you, and they have the same mentality. It humbled me and taught me that I’m a world-level athlete. To have gone from where I started to where I was in that moment, shows that I belong there and I should own my spot.
“I know that I worked my a** off, and Andy has done that too, because this wasn’t his first Olympics.
“I did speak to him, and he was so lovely. Throughout my time at the Olympics, I always spoke to him and said ‘Hi’, even though I was a bit shy. I didn’t know what to ask a role model that I’d been watching on TV.
“He was so kind and I tried to keep up with his competitions. He’s a legend and a role model for the current generation and the next generation.”
Meet Cindy Ngamba: The Olympic boxer who went from watching her favorite soccer player to making history at Paris 2024
While boxing has become the center of Ngamba’s life, that wasn’t always the case.
Growing up, the sportswoman adored soccer, spending endless hours on the pitch, to improve her game
And there’s one player in particular, who particularly inspired her, with the 26-year-old now revealing the hero she dreamed of emulating.