Commonwealth Games: Cameroonian judokas begin pretournament camping.

The senior judokas for the Commonwealth Games assignment include Cameroon’s finest judokas. The group is headlined by veteran Olympic athlete Richelle Soppi Mbella Anita. 

The 36-year-old judoka is looking to use the platform to get herself to the best of shapes as she looks to perform dominantly at the global stages for the first time after falling short at the 2024 Olympic Games and the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games last year.

The heavyweight specialist will be Cameroon’s biggest medal hopeful in the judo category of the Glasgow Games as the Cameroon Judo Federation battles to secure its first medal in the competition since the 2014 edition which was also held in Glasgow. 

Other judokas who are participating in the Yaounde camping include heavyweight specialist Georgika Wesley Djengue Moune. Like Soppi Mbella, 26-year-old Djengue Moune will be making her debut in the Commonwealth Games when she features in the 2026 showpiece. 

Rising sensation, Baba Matia Celine stands out as arguably most-experienced member of the group in camp in terms of the Commonwealth Games.

The 22-year-old represented Team Cameroon in the women’s -52kg category of the 2022 edition where she dominantly advanced to the knockout stages before missing out on the medal podium. 

The 2026 Commonwealth Games will assemble some three thousand athletes from across the globe. The athletes will compete across 10 major sports, including judo.

Cameroon last won a medal in the judo category of competition when two-time African Games gold medalist, Helene Wezeu Dombeu secured a silver medal in the women’s 63kg event of the 2014 edition. 

Four-time African champion Hortense Mballa Atangana bagged a bronze medal in the 78kg category in the same competition. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3842 of Thursday July 09, 2026