Athletes representing the green red yellow at this year’s edition of the Tokyo Olympics which kicks off on July 23 in Japan have been challenged to uphold olympic values and win medals for the country.
This was during the handover ceremony of the Cameroon flag to Standard bearer of the country’s olympic team for the planetary showpiece, female wrestler Joseph Emilienne Tiako Essombe by the Prime Minister Head of Government on behalf of the Head of State.
The ceremony took place at the headquarters of the National Olympic and Sports Committee in Yaounde this Thursday July 1.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Prime Minister encouraged the athletes who will be representing Cameroon to defend the country’s colors and bring back medals.
In all, 12 Cameroonian athletes from seven disciplines will be gunning for podium finishes at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Japan as from July 23. The competition was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team will be led by 33-year-old female wrestler, Joseph Emilienne Tiako Essombe who was officially handed over the flag by the Prime Minister.
The athlete competed in the women’s freestyle 53kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in which she was eliminated in the round of 16 by Betzabeth Argüello.
She won the silver medal in the women’s freestyle 57kg event at the 2019 African Wrestling Championships. The same year, she represented Cameroon at the 2019 African Games and she won the gold medal in the women’s freestyle 53 kg event.
Emilienne Tiako is going to Japan with the determination to do better than her previous participation and why not mount the podium.
The last time the country mounted the podium at the bonanza was in 2008, when Francoise Mbango won a gold medal in the triple jump.
