LONDON >> Thousands of Olympians have returned to their homelands with the end of the London Games — but more than a dozen African competitors have not.

Even before the closing ceremony, some athletes from impoverished or conflict-ridden nations including Cameroon, Eritrea, Guinea and the Ivory Coast had disappeared from the athletes’ village, and their whereabouts remain a mystery.

The London Games are not the first time such reports have surfaced: There is a well-established history, dating back to the Cold War, of sportsmen trying to use international competitions in foreign countries as springboards to a better life.

Athletes attending the London Olympics have the legal right to stay in Britain until November under the terms of their visas, but one of them has already declared that he intends to seek political asylum in Britain.

“I still very much love my country and it’s the harsh conditions and lack of basic human rights which has compelled me to seek asylum,” Eritrean steeplechase runner Weynay Ghebresilasie, 18, told The Guardian newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.

Ghebresilasie, who finished 10th in his first-round heat and did not advance, told the paper that he has become disillusioned with the worsening political conditions in his homeland. He said he’s not alone: Three of his fellow Eritrean teammates, out of a delegation of only 12 athletes, have also sought asylum but are reluctant to go public because they fear their families may get into trouble back home.

Eritrea was among the top 10 countries of origin for people seeking asylum in the U.K last year, along with Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iran, according to the London-based charity Refugee Council. The northeastern African country also has a past record for missing athletes: In 2009, an entire Eritrean national soccer team defected during a tournament in Kenya.

The report followed confirmation Tuesday from Salamata Cisse, head of Ivory Coast’s Olympic delegation, that two swimmers and a wrestling coach had disappeared from their quarters in London.

In Guinea, sports minister Titi Camara also confirmed that three athletes had not returned to the west African country after the Olympics.

“They told their friends that they weren’t going to come back to Guinea,” said N’famara Bangoura, a Guinean sports journalist. “Here, there is no infrastructure, no equipment, no qualified coaches for them to become good athletes.”

Last week, Cameroon’s Olympic team asked for help from London officials to look for seven athletes who disappeared after they finished their games. Its press attache, Emmanuel Tataw, said this has happened before to squads competing in Melbourne and Athens.

Cameroon, a predominantly French-speaking nation of 20 million in west central Africa, is among the poorest nations on earth.

According to African media, other missing athletes include judo competitor Cedric Mandembo and three others from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Britain’s Home Office would not comment on the reports, saying it does not speak about individual cases.