Created since the Rio Games in 2016, the Refugee Olympic Team enables athletes who have fled their country of origin for various reasons (security, geopolitical context, war...) and obtained refugee status, to compete in Olympic Games events, under a neutral banner, bearing the effigy of the Olympic flag.
Until now, the team had not won any medals, but now they have, with boxer Cingy Ngamba taking a fine bronze medal in women's boxing in the 75kg category. This is the first medal in the history of the refugee team, in just three editions of the Summer Olympics.
The 25-year-old lives in the UK and trains with the British team. She was rejected by her country and unable to take part in the Cameroonian delegation, where she is originally from, because of her homosexuality: she signs her first Games in Paris 2024.
Paris 2024 Olympics: the medals of the Olympic refugee team at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Having paraded under the Olympic banner for two editions of the Summer Olympics, the Refugee Olympic Team enables top-level refugee athletes to compete under a multicultural banner. [Read more]
Disappointed by her defeat by Athena Bibeichi Bylon (Panama), the boxer's performance was historic and highly encouraging for refugee athletes the world over. During the Opening Ceremony, the young boxer was the flag-bearer for her delegation and raised the values of Olympism high.
Paris 2024 Olympics: the medals of the Olympic refugee team at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
