The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Cameroon

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This page contains a list of the greatest Cameroonian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 13 of which were born in Cameroon. This makes Cameroon the birth place of the 83rd most number of Athletes behind Puerto Rico, and Uruguay.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Cameroonian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Cameroonian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Cameroonian Athletes.

Photo of Emerson

1. Emerson (b. )

With an HPI of 58.99, Emerson is the most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Emerson may refer to:

Photo of Joseph Bessala

2. Joseph Bessala (1941 - 2010)

With an HPI of 53.81, Joseph Bessala is the 2nd most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Joseph Bessala (1 January 1941 – 25 April 2010) was a welterweight boxer from Cameroon.

Photo of Françoise Mbango Etone

3. Françoise Mbango Etone (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 48.00, Françoise Mbango Etone is the 3rd most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Françoise Mbango Etone (born 14 April 1976 in Yaoundé) is a Cameroonian-born female former track and field athlete. She has competed internationally for France since 2010. While competing for Cameroon, Etone was a 2-time Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She held the Olympic record for triple jump which she set with a distance of 15.39 m at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The 15.39 m is the third longest women's triple jump in history under any conditions. Only 25 women have ever jumped 15 metres, Etone jumped beyond 15 metres on 7 of her last 11 attempts in the Olympic final alone. Etone was also a talented long jumper who finished second at the African Championships in 1999. Etone was the first female athlete representing Cameroon to win medals at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympic Games. She has been a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since November 2002. During the 2005–06 academic year, she lived in New York City on a scholarship to attend St. John's University in Queens, New York. The scholarship was made possible through the collaboration of the American electricity company AES Sonel along with US Ambassador to Cameroon, Niels Marquardt. She selected St. John's University for study (along with her younger sister, Berthe) because of the school's support of cultural programs in Cameroon.

Photo of Auriol Dongmo

4. Auriol Dongmo (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 37.48, Auriol Dongmo is the 4th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Auriol Sally Dongmo Mekemnang (born 3 August 1990) is a Cameroon-born Portuguese track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus throw. She represented Cameroon at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the World Athletics Championships in 2015. At continental level, she was a two-time gold medalist at both the African Games and the African Championships in Athletics. She holds a personal best of 19.53 m (64 ft 3⁄4 in) for the shot put, both indoors and outdoors. This is a Cameroonian record outdoors and an African record indoors. Her best in the discus is a more modest 47.00 m (154 ft 2 in). She represented her native Cameroon until 2017, transferring her eligibility to Portugal which became active in 2020.

Photo of Antoinette Nana Djimou

5. Antoinette Nana Djimou (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 35.20, Antoinette Nana Djimou is the 5th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Ida Antoinette Nana Djimou (born 2 August 1985 in Douala, Cameroon) is a Cameroonian-French heptathlete and pentathlete. She has won two European Athletics Championships heptathlon gold medals (in 2012 and 2014) and two European Athletics Indoor Championships pentathlon gold medals (in 2011 and 2013). Her heptathlon personal best result is 6576 points, achieved at the 2012 Olympics in London. She acquired French nationality by naturalization on 28 August 2003.

Photo of Véronique Mang

6. Véronique Mang (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 34.96, Véronique Mang is the 6th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Véronique Ngo Mang (born December 15, 1984) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for France.

Photo of Bernardin Matam

7. Bernardin Matam (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 31.48, Bernardin Matam is the 7th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 8 different languages.

Bernardin Ledoux Kingue Matam (born 20 May 1990) is a French weightlifter who competes in the men's lightweight division (-69 kg).

Photo of Paolo Dal Molin

8. Paolo Dal Molin (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 29.71, Paolo Dal Molin is the 8th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 8 different languages.

Paolo Dal Molin (born 31 July 1987) is an Italian athlete competing in the 110 metres hurdles. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 110 m hurdles.

Photo of Dora Tchakounté

9. Dora Tchakounté (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 27.87, Dora Tchakounté is the 9th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 8 different languages.

Dora Meiriama Tchakounté (born 23 March 1995) is a French weightlifter born in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Photo of Clémentine Meukeugni

10. Clémentine Meukeugni (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 16.57, Clémentine Meukeugni is the 10th most famous Cameroonian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 5 different languages.

Clementine Meukeugni Noumbissi (born 1 October 1990) is a Cameroonian weightlifter. She competed in the women's 90 kg event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning the bronze medal. She competed in the women's 87 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 87 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.

People

Pantheon has 13 people classified as Cameroonian athletes born between 1941 and 1999. Of these 13, 12 (92.31%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Cameroonian athletes include Emerson, Françoise Mbango Etone, and Auriol Dongmo. The most famous deceased Cameroonian athletes include Joseph Bessala. As of April 2024, 10 new Cameroonian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Emerson, Joseph Bessala, and Auriol Dongmo.

Living Cameroonian Athletes

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Deceased Cameroonian Athletes

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Newly Added Cameroonian Athletes (2024)

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