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Interviewe : Françoise Mbango, the Vice World Champion in Triple Jump (24.09.2003)
Mbango Etone Françoise, talks of her frustrations and tribulations as an athlete after refusing to take a new nationality.
You put on a green-red-yellow hairdo to defend Cameroon at the 9th World Athletics Championship in France. Was it a choice or just a coincidence?
It was never a coincidence. The idea was well thought out. Images speak more than words and I wanted my image to speak for itself. With the hairdo, I couldn’t pass unnoticed and no word could better express that feeling of being proud to be a Cameroonian. Everybody could see that in my look.
How did the public appreciate your look?
Fantastic. Africans in Europe as a whole, and those in my neighbourhood in Paris in particular, adored it. People have been calling to complement the hairdo. Some of them say what they retained from the 9th World Athletics Championship is the colour of hair I had when defending the country and the record which I brake, rather than the position which I occupied.
Your spectacular performance left no one indifferent. How do you feel being the only Cameroonian medallist of the Paris expedition?
(Smiles)I am happy because it would have been a shame if we left from France without a medal. The other athletes also defended the country well at their own level. The Cameroon record in relay was broken and the relay team participated in the semi finals. I knew that in the team, I was the one who had the greatest opportunity to grab a medal. I am happy to have accomplished that mission.
Such a performance certainly demands a lot of training.
Excessive training, I might even say. Since the introduction of triple jump in athletics, only twelve girls in the world have attained my performance in Paris. I beat my own record twice. We never had such a performance in the last two years. So it demands more training and a lot of sacrifice.
Under what conditions did you train for Paris 2003?
(Recoils)) I had a lot of problems which even made me to come to Cameroon four times in less than a year. The last time I was in the country was a month before the World Athletics Championship. I came to inform officials of the Cameroon Athletics Federation and those of the Ministry of Youth and Sports what I was going through. I was in real difficulties. I was being threatened in France on the issue of nationality. My coach was prohibited from training me. I was not allowed to train at my usual training ground. I also faced threats at school. They stopped giving the little scholarship that I had and since it is my club in France that was lodging me, I also started having problems with lodging. All these happened two months to the world championships. I found myself without a coach, without a place for training, I also had no access to medical care because it was reserved for the French team according to what I was told. Similarly, I had no right to go for camping and at the level of the media, I was a victim of blackmail.
How?
(Furious) I saw how the media was trying to destabilise me, destroy me and my image. Journalists decided to render negative everything that I did. In the Oslo Golden league, for example, I was second with 14.88metres. One week after in the second Golden League in Paris Saint Denis I was third with 14.82 metres They said I was falling and that the only hope for Cameroon grabbing a medal was gone. In meetings, I was presented as the person who held the African record in Triple Jump which was not a very good reference for the public. Some journalists even went to the extent of saying I no longer hold the African record in triple jump which is a lie. At one time, I was even victim of a rumour that I was injured. I have suffered from such media blackmail, telephone threats, verbal abuse and written insults.
All this because you refused to change your nationality?
Categorically.
Many people in your shoes would jump for what is being proposed to you.
It is the heart that is speaking. I can’t really explain. But it is close to something like: you cannot refuse your mother even if she does not have the means to bring you up. It is not because another mother has all to offer to you that you would abandon yours and jump into her hands. It is patriotism. Imagine that you find yourself in a stadium where there are 210 countries and over 5000 athletes. Imagine that within nine days of the competition attention is never focused on your country and that the one person who had to bring glory to this country threw her lots elsewhere and made a delegation of over 200 persons at such a world championship to go unnoticed? It hurts. This is inadmissible to me. We are all trying to leave our trace in history. I wanted to leave a trace for Cameroon during this world rendez-vous. And I am happy Cameroon was present. It retained the attention of the world for at least a minute. There is no price for this.
Our hearts were all beating for you. At one moment we even thought you would grab gold. What happened?
(Pensive) Actually, I have never taken a competition so seriously. I wanted to
win at all cost. I hope Cameroonians saw the efforts I put in. I also thought I would be first when I did my second jump. I knew the Russian was very tough, but I was determined to go for gold. But that is sports. Everybody wants to win. But at the end there is just one victor. But the lesson I got from the competition is that to win is not synonymous to being first. Similarly lost does not mean being last. I was not first but to me I did not loss the competition. My participation crated a great effect and Cameroonians will live with memories of this championship. They will remember the flag of Cameroon brandished several times, the patriotism that I openly showed and the African record that was broken twice. I didn’t have gold but the emotions we shared is worth more than the gold.
You are the only Cameroonian who has excelled at international level in triple jump. Is the discipline that difficult?
Technically it is a very difficult discipline and the risks are more when compared with those of the other disciplines in athletics. Some Cameroonian athletes do practice it. But in relation to their level of training and age, their performance is not great. I however encourage them to continue to work hard.
Does the infrastructure on which an athlete trains influence performance?
It counts a lot. I would like to come and work in Cameroon for sometime. But I am usually at a loss when in the country because I cannot train normally. There are a few problems with infrastructure. It is not a handicap but can influence sports performance. Efforts should be made to correct such hindrances to sports development. But athletes can always start with what is available. Within the last two years, I have been very regular in Cameroon. I do general training at INJS and at the Omnisport stadium. But I have to go to Europe for the specific.
So what can be done to make young athletes interested in triple jump and other disciplines that can bring glory to the country?
The first thing is to bring the sports to the limelight. I was very happy when I learnt that the 9th World Athletics Championship was retransmitted over CRTV. Because of this, several Cameroonians followed it live. Some people told me it was just like watching a football match. When an event is publicised, the public is able to know it and appreciate it better. The more we do this, the more people will know that such disciplines are very important at the international front.
You break your proper record; the African record. Do you intend to participate in the All Africa Games in Abuja?
(A little pathetic) For the moment, my principal objective was the World Championship with or without outside support. Abuja is the African Games. It is my level, no doubt. I can participate in it and represent Cameroon honourably. But personally, I would like to help other young athletes to rise. Since we do not have the means to take along several athletes in international competitions, I will want that privilege be given to young Cameroonians to find their feet at this level. I have nothing to prove again. There are others who can replace us at such competitions. If I insist on going, I might take the place of an athlete who can represent Cameroon valuably at more serious competition. I will prefer to sacrifice my place for youths who also need to shine. I will also say I have carried out a lot of personal sacrifice. I have received a lot of promises but very little has been done with regards to training and follow up. I will not delve into this. I was bent on bringing home gold from the French expedition. I did all at my reach. Some people said I missed the gold medal by a hair’s breath. Maybe, that little effort was what was needed to be done together. Personally my season has ended.
You mean to tell us we would not have the gold we are looking up to?
(Very serious)You would have the gold, even if it is not from Françoise Mbango. There are several disciplines which can bring gold. I had a very difficult season. You would not understand what I have gone through. You cannot have an entire federation and a nation against you. You live in their country, you participate in a world championship in their country and end up winning alone. Believe me, I don’t know how I endured all this. But ironically, they were the first to congratulate me.
Today you will be received by the Executive Secretary of the African Synergy Against AIDS and Hardship. What does this mean to you?
(Smiles) I am very happy. I discovered African Synergy through its President, Mrs Chantal Biya. That was when we were decorated at State House and the First Lady received us. I was touched by her qualities. She is very natural and motherly. I told myself that it was not normal for us to ask all the time. We should also show that we can give. I do not have a lot to give but I can give my image to valorise the efforts and actions of the First Lady in helping Cameroonian youths and Africans as a whole. The fact that they are receiving me shows they appreciate what I am doing. It is also an indication of the importance they attach to my person. Confides
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