The boxer from Bolton who isn't allowed to represent Team GB at the Olympics

On a visit to Bolton Lads and Girls club, in 2019 Theresa May heaped praise on a talented, young female boxer. She described her as 'absolutely great'.

Just a few months later, she was nearly deported by the Home Office.

Tonight (August 8), that boxer, Cindy Ngamba, is set to compete in the fight of her life tonight, in the semi-finals of the women's middle weight boxing at the Paris Olympic Games. She will go toe-to-toe with Panama's Atheyna Bylon for the chance to advance to the final and the chance of a gold medal.

The 25-year-old has already made history in Paris. She became the first person ever to secure a medal for the IOC’s refugee team after her win against France’s Davina Michel booked her a place in tonight's women's middleweight semi-finals. (August 8)

READ MORE: "She’s not just fighting for a medal, she's fighting for her life": The story of Cindy Ngamba, from the people who know her best

Despite training and living in Bolton since she was a child, and being born in Cameroon, Ngamba has been representing the Refugee Olympic Team. The boxer is prevented from representing the country she has called home since she moved here to live with her father when she was 11, as she does not have British Citizenship.

Ngamba's status is currently one of an asylum seeker, as she is unable to return to her home country of Cameroon, due to her coming out as gay when she was 18. In Cameroon, homosexuality is a criminal offence.

If Ngamba, who was the Refugee Olympic Team flagbearer during the opening ceremony, returned to her home country, she could be persecuted and sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Yet despite her success in the ring, Cindy is yet to be granted a British Citizenship, which she had applied for on