Buea - Hommage to Commonwealth Wrestling Gold Medallist

Rebecca Mwambo Ndolo, beat an Indian to earn the gold for Cameroon at the Commonwealth Games in Jalandhar India last 17 December.

Twenty-five-year old Rebecca Mwambo Ndolo who won a gold medal for Cameroon in Free Wrestling at the Jalandhar ( India ) Commonwealth Games has been received in the South West Governor's office. Ndolo beat an Indian challenger on December 17, 2009 to win the gold. She hails from Bokwaongo-Buea and has been on the international wrestling scene since 1997 when she defeated a hefty boy to the amazement of the Buea population.

Receiving Ndolo on behalf of the Governor, the Secretary General, Peter Tieh Ndeh, urged other athletes to emulate her humility, performance and patriotism. The Secretary General was visibly impressed that the gold medallist was from his own jurisdiction.

Accompanied by the Bokwaongo elite including Mbwaye Moanga Emmanuel, her coach, Nganda Tonga Samuel, her parents Lydia and William Mwambo and the Regional Delegate of Sports and Physical Education, Abel Ekema; Ndolo received an ovation for her brilliant performance in India.

Ndolo is said to be taking after her father who was the Buea Wrestling champion in 1955. Before engaging in wrestling competitions she earned her First School Leaving Certificate in the Cameroon Baptist Convention Primary School Mutengene. She later enrolled into Government Technical High School Buea where she did building construction and later moved to the Cameroon OIC (Buea) where she obtained a diploma in building construction.

Yet, Rebecca Mwambo Ndolo brought what she calls problems to the Bakweri tribe because they did not permit women to wrestle or fight in public competitions. But she stood her grounds and was identified by her coach, Nganda Tonga , who started training her for international competitions. Ndolo won a gold medal in 1999 in Yaounde. In 2001, she dropped to a bronze in her own hometown, Buea. In Abuja, 2003, Ndolo won a bronze during the All-Africa-Games. The year 2005/2006 brought joy to Ndolo when she won two straight gold in national competitions in Yaounde and was offered a two-year CONFEJES scholarship to train in Tunisia. After training, she has participated and won battles in Algeria, Baku-Azerbaijan, Ankara (Turkey) and Haparanda (Sweden).