Weightlifting: Cameroon emerges African champion

Cameroon emerged champion at the Junior Weightlifting African Championship which took place recently in Kampala-Uganda.

The national weightlifting selection bagged home a total of 54 medals; 26 gold, 18 silver and 10 bronze.

Whereas Cameroon took part with only 15 athletes at the competition, reserved only for athletes in the cadet and junior categories,the official delegation to Kampala was scaled down by officials of the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education for reasons of budgetary constraints.

Eight countries took part in the competition. According to the national technical director of the weight lifting federation, Constantin Enama, the competition served as preparation for the national championship as well as the upcoming African Games.

Meanwhile the president of the weightlifting federation who led his team to Uganda said the performance of his athletes was the fruit of hard work and good preparation, as they started preparing long before the kick off of the event.

He said their next target is to prepare well for the upcoming qualifiers for the Olympic Games. He said they were putting emphasis on the youth as they have a long time to compete and bring more victories for Cameroon.

In order to avoid the exodus of weightlifting talents as has been the case in previous international competitions, Tikere Boukar said they have put in place a working platform with the French federation concerning Cameroonian athletes living in France to make sure they train under good conditions. He said similar accords will follow with other federations to this effect.