Boxer and taekwondo athlete to carry Refugee Olympic Team flag
Boxer Cindy Ngamba and Taekwondo athlete Yahya Al-Ghotany will be the flag bearers for the Refugee Olympic Team during the Opening Ceremony at Paris 2024. This was announced today during the 142nd IOC Session in Paris.
Ngamba, who lives and trains in the United Kingdom, is one of two refugee athlete scholarship-holders who made history and qualified for the Olympic Games. She was born in Cameroon and moved to the UK at the age of 11. She is a three-time English national champion.
She says that it’s an honour to represent the Refugee team and carry the flag for the millions of refugees around the world. “I am very grateful to the IOC for this special opportunity. My biggest hope is that, at this year’s Olympic Games, we can make people stand up and pay attention. Show them what refugees are capable of, because we have some big ambitions.”
Al-Ghotany left Syria with his family to find a safer place when the war broke out. Once he arrived in the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, he started to practice taekwondo.
He now trains twice a day as part of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF)’s Azraq Academy. After only five years of practising his sport, he reached black belt 2nd dan level.
“It means a lot to me to carry this special flag for this unique team. At the Opening Ceremony, I will be thinking about everyone that has helped me on my journey – my friends, my family – but also the more than 100 million people around the world, who, just like me, have had to flee their homes. I represent all of them,” Al-Ghotany told Olympics.com.
The Refugee Olympic Team is made up of 37 athletes living in 15 countries and competing in 12 different sports. Appearing for the third consecutive Olympic Games, the Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024 is the largest yet.