Ernest Wanko

Ernest Wanko was President of the National Olympic Committee of Cameroon from 1963-72. As an athlete he competed for France and won a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1954 European Championships. He also ran on the French 4x100 metre relay in the heats.

Wanko was an engineer who studied at National Professional School of Tarbes in the Hautes Pyrénées where he obtained the 1st Part Baccalauréat Maths-Techniques in 1953 and the 2nd in 1954. He later studied at the Special School of Mechanics and Electricity (ESME) in Paris, earning a Mechanical-Electrician Engineer Diploma in 1957.

Wanko worked as an engineer in Cameroon, often for the government, beginning with the Department of Public Works in Douala-Yaoundé in 1958. From 1967-73 he headed the operations of the EDC Interior Centers in Douala but was then co-opted as an expert with the Court of Appeal in Douala. In 1974 he joined SONEL in Yaoundé and served with them until his retirement in 1994, after which he did consulting work for several firms and the government and served as a technical expert in the Cameroon court system.

Personal Best: LJ – 7.41 (1954).