'I Led Weightlifters to an Honourable Performance in Athens'

Matam Ndicka David alias Hercules, former athlete and coach of weightlifting recalls his time in the sport in the following reaction.

Il était une fois

"I stumbled on weightlifting by chance, having been detected by club Coach, Pouthpouth Joseph who saw in me the prospect of a great weightlifter to be. I went ahead to beat the major contenders of the time to become Cameroon's All-time best weightlifter from 1960 when I joined the sport to 1987.

Coming from a family of strongly built people, my transition to weightlifting was easy as I beat the best of the country within two months after adopting the sports discipline. I am a father of 24 with 15 of them practising weightlifting and I am also is the best all time athlete and trainer in weightlifting. Though I never took part in the Olympic Games as an athlete I participated as a trainer earning the recognition of some Asian and African countries who solicited my services.

My first experience with the Olympic Games was in 2004 when I conducted two Cameroonian wrestlers; Dabaya Tcheuntcheu Vincelas and Yameshi Madeliene to the Athens Olympics, making an honourable performance as Dabaya came 4th and Madeline, 6th in the overall classification in the discipline.

The Athens Olympics however remain a bitter souvenir for me as one of my athletes; Dabaya was deprived of the Olympic gold medal because of a refereeing error and the fact that the athlete was mentally disturbed after a quarrel over the payment of bonuses. I am also the owner of 'Haltero-Athletic club Bulgar'. I am the dean of weightlifting in Cameroon with the death of Wandji Pierre Aimé who was considered as the pioneer. The two Cameroonian athletes engaged in the Olympic Games could make Cameroonian happy through an impressive performance but only if they had a good training and a coach."