They won a total of 43 medals; 21 gold, 16 silver and 6 bronze.
As earlier predicted, Cameroon finally emerged champion at the recent central African regional championship in athletics which took place in Congo-Brazzaville from August 1st to 4th. The athletics Lions won a total of 43 medals; 21 in gold, 16 silver and 6 bronze to conserve the championship title they won in Yaounde two years ago. Cameroon was followed by the host country, the Republic of Congo who won more medals than Cameroon (46) but occupy the second position because Cameroon has more gold medals. Congo had only 11 gold as opposed to 21 for Cameroon, 16 silver and 19 bronze medals. The democratic republic of Congo came third with nine medals only, one gold, one silver and seven bronze
The performance of the Cameroonian athletes has turned out as predicted by the national technical director, Michel Nkollo, though it came as a surprise given that no records were broken during the 52nd edition of the national championship which took place one week prior to their departure for Congo-Brazzaville. However, the athletes can be said to be reaping the fruits of the two-week training camp in Yaounde ahead of the competition and national championship which also served as preparation for the competition. More so, all the 19 athletes were offered FCA 500,000 each as participation bonuses by the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education prior to their departure which greatly motivated the athletes.
The regional championship also served as preparation for the upcoming Francophonie Games in Nice-France. Some ten countries of the region took part in the competition comprising Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Chad and Cameroon. The Cameroonian delegation to Congo is expected back in the country today via the Douala international airport.
