Though a year has elapsed, yet the incident is still fresh in the minds of many Cameroonians. Thomas Essomb and Blaise Yepmou Mendouo, all Cameroonian boxers who disappeared from the Olympic Village during the 2012 Olympic Games have been granted asylum and are now training for the UK Championships...

Thomas Essomb (left) and Blaise Yepmou Mendouo (right).
Photo: © Archives

Though a year has elapsed, yet the incident is still fresh in the minds of many Cameroonians. Thomas Essomb and Blaise Yepmou Mendouo, all Cameroonian boxers who disappeared from the Olympic Village during the 2012 Olympic Games have been granted asylum and are now training for the UK Championships... The two boxers from Cameroon whose disappearance shocked the London Olympics were tracked down – in Sunderland, according to Daily Mirror. Thomas Essomba, 25, and Blaise Yepmou Mendouo, 29, were amongst seven Cameroonian athletes who disappeared during last year’s games. At the time they said they’d been threatened by officials and told their careers in Cameroon would be over if they lost their Olympic bouts. Their disappearance became international news at the time. Daily Mail reports that after leaving the Olympic Village, Thomas and Blaise were secretly sent to Sunderland by the Home Office and they have been living at the Salvation Army’s Swan Lodge homeless shelter in Sunderland and training at the city’s Olympian Gym. It said, the UK Government has today confirmed that they have been granted asylum and have the right to stay in the country. They are now both in boxing training for the UK Championships. Thomas said: “First of all, I’m eternally grateful for the fact that I’ve again been given the chance to box, which is what I love. “Even if I don’t get the chance to be an Olympic winner, I’d still like to be World Champion, by the grace of God.” Both Thomas Essomb and Blaise Yepmou Mendouo have refused to answer any questions relating to their disappearance during the Olympics and why they are unable to return to Cameroon.