Gilbert Then Ngan, former President of the Cameroon Judo Federation, has had an International Judo Federation (IJF) gold medal bestowed upon him following his recent death.

Then Ngan, who served at the head of the Cameroon Judo Federation from 1982 to 2000, was posthumously awarded the honour by IJF President Marius Vizer.

Born in 1941, Then Ngan was also the general treasurer of the Cameroon National Olympic Committee from 1993 to 2013.

"It is with great sadness that we received the news of the passing away of Mr Gilbert Then Ngan, a great personality who dedicated his life to the development of so many activities including sport and especially judo," said Vizer.

"The International Judo Federation would like to decorate him with a gold medal as a sign of gratitude for all his entire sports activity.
"I would like to extend my most sincere condolences to the Cameroon Judo Federation and to Mr Then Ngan’s family."

The Cameroon Judo Federation, currently led by Alain Christian Kingue Dihang, benefited from the IJF’s development programme last year.

As part of the programme, the Cameroon Judo Federation received a tatami and dozens of brand new judogi allocated to promising young athletes.

Every year, the IJF donates equipment to many National Federations to support the development of judo at all levels, spanning both the grassroots and the top level as well as everywhere in between.

This is considered an "important" part of the IJF global development programme, which also consists of financial support and assistance to send the best athletes to the World Judo Tour events.

Cameroon was represented by just one judoka at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where under 90-kilogram athlete Dieudonne Dolassem lost to Georgia’s Varlam Liparteliani in the first round.