Madias Ngake, a Cameroonian-born weightlifter, will compete for England at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, 14 years after fleeing the London 2012 Olympics rather than return home, where her sexuality had become known and homosexuality is illegal. She endured months of homelessness in the UK before rebuilding her life, and this return to a major multi-sport event marks a remarkable turnaround for an athlete who has never even held the Olympic medal she was retrospectively awarded.

Ngake was awarded a London 2012 bronze medal seven years late after three weightlifters who finished above her were disqualified for doping, but she has never returned to Cameroon to collect it and believes it remains in a drawer in Yaoundé. Now based in Nottingham, she won European bronze for Great Britain earlier this year and says representing Team England at Glasgow 2026 means "a lot" to her, having previously competed for Cameroon at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where she finished fourth.