Tokyo 2021: Vanessa Mballa, or the dream of a first Olympic medal for Cameroonian judo
Vanessa Mballa, in Doha in January 2021. AFP - KARIM JAAFAR
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 min
Offer Cameroon its first medal in judo.
This is the mission of Vanessa Mballa who will fight Friday July 30.
For her entry in the running, she will have to face the representative of Turkey, Kayra Sayit.
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In life, all dreams are allowed.
This is what Vanessa Mballa must say to herself, she who was four times African champion, with a last title obtained in Antanarivo in Madagascar in December 2020, by beating Sonia Asselah, the flag bearer of Algeria at the Games Rio 2016 Olympics.
Last January, Hortence Vanessa Mballa Atangana, her full name, took a promising 5th place at the Doha Masters, which brings together the 36 best judokas in the world in each category.
In April, she won the bronze medal in the Grand Slam in Antalya, Turkey.
Currently ranked 14th in the world in its category, it could well write the history of Cameroonian judo.
Land of welcome in Mayenne
Vanessa Mballa, born in Bikok, has lived and trained for several years in Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne.
Arrived in France thanks to an Olympic scholarship, at 19, she put her suitcases at the Pôle Espoirs in Rouen.
A turbulent child, it was at the age of 11 that she discovered judo to channel her energy, on the advice of her mother.
A few years later, she set herself the goal of becoming national champion.
In February 2020, Vanessa Mballa won the bronze medal at the Grand Slam in Düsseldorf, Germany.
“
It's my first medal in a Grand Slam and it's a first for Cameroon too, it's one of my fondest memories.
I hope there will be more,
”she told
MadamSport.
Tokyo to crown his career
Like all athletes participating in the Tokyo Games, Vanessa Mballa had to adapt to the postponement of the event and other competitions, such as the African Championships.
Because an Olympic cycle lasts four years.
And there, everything was turned upside down.
Postponements which influenced his peak of form and which required new planning on the part of his trainer Rodrigue Chenet.
Both work together towards the same goal: to land a metal.
Vanessa Mballa could well confirm the ambition of her coach who, in 2018, clearly announced that Tokyo would be the high point of his career.
In 2016 in Rio, she took the door in the first round.
Five years later, will she be on time in the land of judo?
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2020 Olympics
Judo
Cameroon