Her name is Cindy Ngamba and — despite losing in the semifinal bout of the women’s 75-kilogram boxing competition — she is the first ever medalist for the Olympic refugee team.
Going up against Panama’s Atheyna Bylon, Ngamba dropped the first round to the tall southpaw on all five scorecards despite keeping her left foot mostly on the outside of Bylon’s right — a common battle for prime position between opponents with opposing dominant hands. Ngamba came back swinging in the second, earning four of the five judges’ votes.
Bylon regained the edge in the third and final round, but the pendulum swung in Ngamba’s favor when the referee deducted a point from Bylon for persistent holding. Still, Bylon scrappily secured the chance to fight for a gold medal in the split call.
“Just the wrong decision in my eyes. Those type of mistakes, in the judges hands, in my opinion, are life-changing,” NBC commentator and American boxer Mikaela Mayer said. “There’s no going back, there’s no reversing that decision, but that was the wrong decision.”
Bylon fights China’s Qian Li on Saturday at Roland-Garros for Panama’s first medal of the Paris Games, while Ngamba secures bronze in the women’s 75-kilogram division. The Olympics do not hold specific bronze medal bouts…
