Joe M'Bouroukounda

Joseph M’Bouroukounda was born into an ethnic Guissir (Échira) Christian family in Fernand-Vaz, a small village to the south of Port Gentil, in what was then French Equatorial Africa. In his late teens, he came to Brazzaville, the then capital of the French colony, to finish his education and it was there that he started boxing. Around 1960, M’Bouroukounda went to France to study art, and also continued to box, and was able to win regional titles in the Paris area.

When he returned to the now independent Gabon, he settled in Libreville before returning to Europe in 1972 to become Gabon’s first ever Olympic competitor, when he participated in the Munich Games. He remained his country’s only Olympic competitor for the next twelve years, as Gabon did not compete again until the 1984 Games.

Soon after the 1972 Olympics, M’Bouroukounda finished his active career, but stayed involved in boxing as a coach, and also served as president of the Gabonese Boxing Federation from 1975-78 and again in 1985. Besides boxing he worked as an art teacher in Libreville up to his retirement. Unfortunately he became blind, and also lost his memory in later years. The family Olympic boxing tradition lived on, when his grand-nephew Yannick Mitoumba competed at the 2012 Olympics.