Yomi Omogbeja (13/06/2004)

African triple jump champion and world silver medallist has described as ‘unfortunate’ the way she has been abandoned by the Cameroonian government ahead of the Olympics.

Francoise Mbango Etone said she felt she was being gradually chased away from the country and might consider changing her nationality.

She added that her demands for assistance to prepare and train under better conditions for the Athens Olympics have not always yielded fruit.

The 27-year-old African record holder has been bombarded with offers to change nationality to France. since her performance at the world championships in Paris 2003.

She told Cameroon Herald today: “I have been training alone since April 2003 because I do not yet have a trainer. Last year I had a French trainer but he has refused to continue working with me because I am not a French national.

“Training alone is certainly not the best working strategy but I have to continue in that direction because I am more or less obliged to.”

Mbango leapt to an African women's Triple Jump record of 15.03m (+1.3m/s) at the EAA permit meeting in Lappeenranta, Finland in August last year, having earlier finished second in both the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the 2003 World Indoor championships.

But Francois still has a lot of patriotism burning inside of her. She said she came to the Yaounde Elize Azar athletics meeting in order to show her appreciation to the public for their past support and to solicit their blessings ahead of the Olympics

In spite of her problems with the sports authorities in Cameroon, she has refrained from taking the matter up with the higher authorities at the Presidency.

She told the Herald today she the ministry of youth and sports is competent handle the matter.

“If at that level nothing is done, it does not mean that because one has the possibility of going high that one should do it,” she said.

“There are conscious and sensible people who know that they have a good athlete in their hands.

“Maybe those coming towards me have a will to assist me live my dream. If that’s the case, why say no? Are these people my kin? Are they strangers? It would be better that they were my kin,” she added.