What Cameroonian men can do, Came - roonian women, it has been proven over time, can do it even best, particularly in the domain of sports. Feats of Lionesses in major international competitions are enough evidence. Françoise Mbango Etone, triple jump athlete, clinched two gold medals in two successive Olympic Games (Athens 2004 and Pekin 2008), enabling the Cameroon anthem to resonate, more than ever before, on a world stage.
Isn’t it said it is better late than never. Madias Nzesso, weightlifter in the 75Kg category, was recently attributed a bronze medal seven years after her participation at the 2012 London Olympics. In table tennis, Victorine Fomum alias “Power”, history holds, is the pioneer African champion and one of the first black women to have bagged bronze at the US table tennis Open. Sarah Hanffou followed the pace Fomum set by emerging continental champion in 2010. Martial art is also a sector Cameroonian female athletes are making their voices heard on the international scene.
At the 2017 World Sambo Championship in Sotchi, Russia, Fokou De Chantal roared and devoured her Sambo Sport opponent in the +80Kg category, winning a bronze medal, the lone precious metal for Africa in the women’s version. Vanessa Mballa Atangana is a force to reckon with when it comes to judo. In 2018, the African champion grabbed Cameroon’s lone gold medal at the Yaounde International Judo Open.
At the Grand Prix in The Hague, the same year, the judoka harvested a silver medal and the first-ever for Cameroon in the IJF World Tour. Talking about football, Aboudi Onguene is among the best attackers the continent boasts of. Thérèse Raïssa Neguel, 37, is a pride to the nation as far as refereeing is concerned. Be it at the Women’s Africa Football Cup of Nations, World Cup or Olympic Games, she has honourably defended the green, red and yellow flag as match commissioner. Irrespective of the sport discipline, athletes of Cameroon origin play the frontline role.
