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The Secret Behind Mbango’s Success (25.08.2004)
Hard work, determination and a high sense of patriotism propelled Cameroon’s Long Jump queen to glory.
Françoise Mbango Etone has done great honour to Cameroon. Her gold medal in Triple Jump, the first individual gold medal for Cameroon in the Olympics, enabled the country of the Indomitable Lions to enter the book of fame in Athens. The success of the Lioness, although heralded with joy through out Africa and in Cameroon in particular, came as a surprise to many. Hitherto the ladies Triple Jump finals, the Long Jump maestro had kept a low profile. She competed in only two international meetings this year and was hardly presented as a favourite. After all, she was competing with some of her greatest rivals. She had finished second to Lebedeva at two World championships, in Edmonton in 2001 and last year in Paris. She lost to Hansen again at the World Indoors in Birmingham in 2003. Her leap of 14.9 metres during the qualifiers instigated more questions on her fitness. Last Tuesday night, however, the 28-year old star made known the reasons for the self-effacing attitude. "I tried to stay below the radar so I could surprise the competition at this event. I am happy that my strategy paid off," she said.
This discretion, coupled with the athlete’s personal confidence, are certainly among the factors that propelled her to glory. Françoise has come of age and strongly believes in herself. "The previous years I wanted to win, but I wasn’t read. I was too stressed up and faced various problems. But this year I told myself that the most important thing is to win the Olympic gold medal in the place where the Olympic Games were born. Today, it was my day to win," she said.
Mbango’s gold medal also clearly illustrates the adage that "determination is the key to success". It is the fruit of the efforts of an athlete who single-handedly faced all
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the challenges and braved all the obstacles. Françoise who is presently based in France, has not had any coach since she left the centre in Dakar. "It has been very hard. I have worked the entire time on my own, training just with my little sister. I use some of the schedules I learned from my old Russian coach, but I don’t have a band of staff around me like these other athletes do, I don’t have a physiotherapist, or any of that support," she explained.
Mbango did acknowledge the support she has received from Cameroon’s national Athletics coach, Sylvaine Bisside. He therefore knows a little of what makes Mbango strong. "She believes in herself and likes it when the competition is hard. When she saw the Greek girl (Devetzi) break the record she said to me, ‘I am so glad. Now it will be a high level competition. That’s what I like’," Bisside said.
Françoise Mbango therefore has every reason to be proud of her medal; the medal that has brought honour to an entire nation. "This is something I have been dreaming of," said the ecstatic Cameroonian afterwards, dedicating her medal to "the whole of Africa". "I knew I had a chance because I felt strong all year. I am very proud to get the medal and the African record," she concluded.
The athlete’s fervent wish is that her victory should enable Cameroonians understand that individual sports can pull crowds and promote the image of a country. "This is a chance to show my country and other Africans that athletics can bring the world together and that we need their support, just like they are doing with football," she said. "I hope we can win many more gold medals in athletics and not have to go elsewhere to get the support we need to win them" she concluded. Lucky enough, President Paul Biya has made it clear on several occasions that, in Cameroon, there is neither a major nor minor sports discipline.
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