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The Maldives first participated at the Olympic Games in 1988. It has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since, but has not participated in the Winter Olympic Games.
The Maldives competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The country's participation at the Beijing Olympics marked its seventh appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The delegation included four athletes, two in athletics, and two in swimming who participated in four distinct events. Its four athletes did not advance past the first round in each of their events. Aminath Rouya Hussain carried the Maldivian flag during the parade of nations of the opening ceremony with sprinter Ali Shareef being the flagbearer for the closing ceremony. The country failed to win an Olympic medal at these Games and has yet to win their first medal.
Zemzem Ahmed Deko is an Ethiopian steeplechase runner and road runner. She emerged as one of Ethiopia's top steeplechasers, and had broken her own personal records three times in 2007.
Temalangeni Mbali Dlamini is a Swazi sprinter. She represented Swaziland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she became the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Dlamini competed in the women's 400 metres, where she finished last in the seventh and final heat, with a time of 59.91 seconds. She also achieved her best result at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, with a personal best time of 58.27 seconds.
Isaiah Msibi is a Swazi middle-distance runner. He represented Swaziland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and competed in the men's 1500 metres. Msibi ran in the second heat of the competition, finishing in twelfth place, with a personal best time of 3:51.35.
Nina Kathy Rillstone is a New Zealand long-distance and marathon runner. She is a national champion in both middle and long-distance running, and a national record holder for the half-marathon.
Pieter Desmet is a Belgian steeplechase and long-distance runner. He is a two-time national champion for his category, and a member of Atletiek Zuid-West Club in Zwevegem, being coached and trained by Dirk de Maesschulck. He also achieved a personal best time of 8:15.02, at a world meeting in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
Arnaud Ghislain is a Belgian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. He is an indoor national senior champion for his category, and also a member of the Belgian national track relay team.
Susana Aylen Clement Quezada is a Cuban track and field athlete, who specialized in the 400 metres. She won gold medals for the national relay team at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Havana, and also, at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Mohamed Issa Al-Thawadi is a Qatari sprint hurdler. Al-Thawadi represented Qatar at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 110 metres hurdles. He ran in the sixth heat against seven other athletes including defending Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China. While his strongest opponent did not complete the hurdle lap because of a serious injury, Al-Thawadi gladly finished in fifth place with his seasonal best time of 13.64 seconds. Although he ranked below the four mandatory slots, Al-Thawadi qualified for the next phase of the competition based on his time and performance in the heats. For the second round, Al-Thawadi, however, was disqualified from the competition, for being responsible to the second false start of the third heat.
Dedeh Erawati is an Indonesian sprint hurdler. She is a four-time medalist and two-time defending champion at the SEA Games. She won the bronze medal at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships in Guangzhou, China, with a time of 13.32 seconds, finishing behind Japan's Asuka Terada and China's Sun Yawei, who claimed the gold in the hurdles. She also set both her personal best and national record of 13.18 seconds at the 2012 Taiwan Open in Taipei, Taiwan.
Sayaka Aoki is a Japanese track and field sprinter and hurdler, who specializes in the 400 metres sprint and 400 metres hurdles. She competed for her country as part of the Japanese women's 4 × 400 metres relay team at the Summer Olympics in 2008 and the World Championships in Athletics three times. She has been a four-time medallist in the relay at the Asian Athletics Championships, including a gold medal in 2011. She won her first major international medal in the hurdles – a bronze – at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships.
Myhaylo Mykolayovych Knysh is a Ukrainian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. Knysh made his official debut for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he placed sixth for the national sprint team in the preliminary heats of men's 4 × 400 m relay, with a time of 3:04.01.
Emmily da Silva Pinheiro is a Brazilian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres.
Rabia Makhloufi is an Algerian steeplechase runner. Makhloufi represented Algeria at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 3000 metres steeplechase. He ran in the first heat against twelve other athletes, including France's Bouabdellah Tahri and Kenya's Brimin Kipruto, who eventually won the gold medal in the final. He finished the race in eighth place by six hundredths of a second (0.06) ahead of Japan's Yoshitaka Iwamizu, with a time of 8:29.74. Makhloufi, however, failed to advance into the final, as he placed twenty-fifth overall and was ranked farther below four mandatory slots for the next round.
Élodie Guégan is a French middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. She won two medals, silver and bronze, for the 800 metres at the 2005 European Athletics U23 Championships in Erfurt, Germany, and at the 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. She also set a personal best time of 1:58.93 by finishing fifth at the 2008 ÅF Golden League in Saint-Denis, Paris.
Anna Rostkowska is a Polish middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. She won a gold medal for the 800 metres at the 2001 European Athletics U23 Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and silver at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Jeju City, South Korea. She also set a personal best time of 1:58.72 by finishing fourth at the 2008 ÅF Golden League in Saint-Denis, Paris.
Aunese Curreen is a Samoan middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. He is currently a member of the North Harbour Bays Athletics Club in Auckland, New Zealand.
Batgereliin Möngöntuyaa is a Mongolian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. Batgerel represented Mongolia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she competed for the women's 400 metres. She ran in the sixth heat against seven other athletes, including Jamaica's Novlene Williams and Great Britain's Nicola Sanders, both of whom were heavy favorites in this event. She finished the race in last place by three seconds behind Albania's Klodiana Shala, with a time of 58.14. Batgerel, however, failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed forty-seventh overall, and was ranked below three mandatory slots for the next round.
The Maldives competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo which were held from 23 July to 8 August 2021. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1988. The delegation consisted of four athletes, two men and two women, competing in four events across three sports. Two athletes participated in the swimming tournament: Mubal Azzam Ibrahim and Aishath Sajina. Athlete Hassan Saaid, a returning competitor from the 2016 Rio Olympics competed in the men's 100 m. Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq was the first badminton player the Maldives entered into the Olympic tournament since the 2012 London Olympics. For the first time, in an effort to promote gender equality, two flagbearers, one male and one female were allowed at the Olympics. Nabaaha and Mubal lead the Maldivian squad as the flagbearers in the opening ceremony. The Maldives, however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal.
References
- ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Aishath Reesha". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ "Women's 800m Round 1 – Heat 1". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
