Cameroon’s Road Map to London 2012

The plan involves the organisation of competitions and award of scholarships to athletes.

Cameroon intends to make a clean break from the past in the manner of preparing for the Olympic Games. Contrary to the past when athletes were left to train on their own with little or no incentive to keep them fit for competition, the country this time is taking a new slate by providing not only the means for athletes to prepare but also organising competitions to keep the athletes constantly in top form.

In order to increase the chances of Cameroonians athletes to win medals at the London Olympics in 2012, the National Olympic and Sports Committee signed a convention with the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education dubbed on the ‘Road to London 2012’ aimed at organising sports events to keep the athletes fit for competition. It as such that barely two months after the national games known as DIXIADES, the National Olympic and Sports Committee organised another competition christened ‘Jeux de la Jeunesse’ in Yaounde. The competition which was in its maiden edition, was aimed at keeping the athletes in the spirit of competition and brought together gold and silver medallists of the last DIXIADES in Ngaoundere and a selection of the best athletes from the Centre Region.

Besides organising sports competitions, the National Olympic Committee is also providing incentives by awarding scholarships to athletes. The first contingent of six athletes entirely sponsored the National Olympic Committee benefitted from the first phase of the project and five others are to follow soon. Efforts are underway for some sixty Cameroonian athletes to benefit from government scholarship in the second phase of the project. This measure which has yielded fruits in the United States of America, is a welcome move in that it enables athletes to prepare in the best possible conditions thereby enhancing the performance of the athletes.

Fred VUBEM TOH