Olympic history of Cameroon

CMR

3	1	2

Cameroon , whose NOK , the Comité National Olympique et Sportif du Cameroun , was founded in 1963 andrecognizedby the IOC in the same year, has participated in the Summer Olympics since 1964. In 2002 a delegation was sent to the Winter Games for the first time and so far only.

Overview

1964 to 1976

The first participation of Cameroonian athletes took place at the Tokyo Games in 1964 . The first Olympian was the athlete David Niitock. Boxers were used for the first time in Mexico City in 1968 . The welterweight boxer Joseph Bessala won the first Olympic medal for his country with silver. Bessala lost in the final to the German Manfred Wolke . Eleven athletes, including cyclists for the first time, competed in Munich in 1972 . After three days of competition, Cameroon withdrew its athletes from the Games in Montreal in 1976 , following the call to boycott African countries. Four racing cyclists had completed their competition by then.

1980 to 1996

Cameroon took part in Moscow in 1980 with a team of 25 . Women were also represented among them for the first time. The first Olympic athletes were the pentathlete Cécile Ngambi and the javelin thrower Agnès Tchuinté. For the first time judokas and freestyle wrestlers from Cameroon started. In Los Angeles in 1984 a Cameroonian soccer team took part in the tournament for the first time. The lightweight boxer Martin N'Dongo won the second medal for his country with bronze.

1988 in Seoul competed weightlifters for the first time. As in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996, the Cameroonian delegation was unsuccessful.

Since 2000

The athletes march in at the 2016 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro

At the Games in Sydney 2000 , Cameroon celebrated its first Olympic victory. The Cameroonian football team defeated Spain in the final. For the first time in Olympic history, a penalty shoot-out was necessary to determine the winner. Cameroon defeated Kuwait 3-2 in the preliminary round. This was followed by two draws against the USA (1: 1) and the Czech Republic (1: 1). In the quarter-finals, the Cameroonians defeated Brazil 2-1 after extra time. In the semifinals there was a 2-1 win against Chile. In the final, the Spaniards were leading 2-0 up to halftime, but Cameroon equalized by the end of the game. After a goalless extra time, Cameroon won the penalty shootout 5-3. In addition to the victory in football, a final participation in athletics could be booked. The triple jumper Françoise Mbango Etone reached 10th place in the final.

In 2002 in Salt Lake City , cross-country skier Isaac Menyoli was the first winter athlete from Cameroon to receive Olympic honors. In Athens 2004 , a Cameroonian swimmer took part for the first time. Françoise Mbango Etone won the triple jump and ensured the first Olympic victory for an individual athlete from Cameroon. At the same time it was the first ever medal win by a Cameroonian.

In 2008 in Beijing , athletes were used in rowing and table tennis for the first time. Françoise Mbango Etone was able to repeat her Olympic victory in Athens and is thus the most successful participant in Cameroon. In 2012 in London , the Cameroonian strength athletes particularly distinguished themselves. The freestyle wrestler Laure Annabel Ali reached 7th place in the heavyweight division, the weightlifter Madias Nzesso also reached 6th place in the heavyweight division. Nzesso was declared a bronze medalist in 2016 after the first three athletes were disqualified for doping. For the first time, the women's national team also took part in the Olympic football tournament, but dropped out after three defeats in the preliminary round.

In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro , the women's national team took part in the Olympic volleyball tournament for the first time. With five defeats, however, she was eliminated after the preliminary round. In heavyweight wrestling, Laure Annabel Ali reached the round of hope after a quarterfinal defeat and was able to win her fight. With 3: 5, however, she lost her fight for the bronze medal against the Russian Yekaterina Bukina . In athletics, the shot putter Auriol Dongmo Mekemnang qualified for the final. She came in tenth.

IOC member

Issa Hayatou , former President of the Confédération Africaine de Football , has been a member of the IOC since 2001 .

Overview of the participants

Summer games

year	Athletes			Flag bearer	sports											Medals
	total	m	w																total	rank
1896-1960	not participated
1964	1	1	0		1
1968	5	5	0		1	4th											1		1	39
1972	11	11	0	Gaston Malam	4th	3	4th
1976	4th	4th	0				4th
1980	25th	22nd	3	Nicolas Owona	4th	4th	6th	5	6th
1984	46	42	4th	Issa Hayatou	9	6th	5	6th	5	15th								1	1	43
1988	15th	13	2	Frédéric Ebong-Salle	5	4th			4th		2
1992	8th	3	5		7th						1
1996	15th	11	4th	Georgette N'Koma	8th	4th		1	1		1
2000	34	25th	9	Kennedy Ochieng	11	2		3		18th						1			1	50
2004	17th	10	7th	Vencelas Debaya	7th	3		4th			2	1				1			1	54
2008	32	25th	7th	Franck Martial Moussima	5	3		1	1	17th	1	2	1	1		1			1	52
2012	32	10	22nd	Laure Annabel Ali	2	5		1	1	17th	2	2	1	1				1	1	78
2016	24	5	19th	Wilfried Ntsengue	2	4th		1	3		2				12
total																3	1	2	6th	74

Winter games

year	Athletes			Flag bearer	sports	Medals
	total	m	w						total	rank
1924-1998	not participated
2002	1	1	0	Isaac Menyoli
2006-2018	not participated
total						0	0	0	0	-

List of medal winners

Gold medals

Surname	Games	sport	discipline
Soccer team U 23	1992 Barcelona	Soccer
Françoise Mbango Etone	2004 Athens	athletics	Triple jump
Françoise Mbango Etone	2008 Beijing	athletics	Triple jump

Silver medals

Surname	Games	sport	discipline
Joseph Bessala	1968 Mexico City	Boxing	Welterweight

Bronze medals

Surname	Games	sport	discipline
Martin N'Dongo	1984 Los Angeles	Boxing	lightweight
Madias Nzesso	2012 London	Weightlifting	Heavyweight

Medals by sport

sport	gold	silver	bronze	total
athletics	2	0	0	2
Soccer	1	0	0	1
Boxing	0	1	1	2
Weightlifting	0	0	1	1
total	3	1	2	6th

Web links

• Cameroon in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Cameroon on Olympic.org  - The Official website of the Olympic movement (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Associated Press announcement of October 26, 2016
2. ↑ IOC announcement on doping offenders from London 2012 of November 21, 2016