Albania at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Last updated
Albania at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Flag of Albania.svg
IOC code ALB
NOC Albanian National Olympic Committee
Website nocalbania.org.al  (in Albanian)
in Beijing
Competitors11 in 6 sports
Flag bearer Sahit Prizreni
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Albania sent a team to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China which was organised by the National Olympic Committee of Albania. Although Albania didn't win any medals, it was an improvement on their performance at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Sahit Prizreni was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Games. [1]

Contents

Albania competed with eleven athletes, seven of whom were men and four were women, competing in several sports such as athletics (hammer throw and 400 metres), and for the first time in judo. Other sports Albania participated in were swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, and shooting. [2]

Weightlifter Romela Begaj came the closest to the medal rankings as she finished 5th in the Women's 58 kg category, lifting 216 kg in total. [3]

The Albanians also showed good performances outside weightlifting. Sahit Prizreni, the bronze medalist from the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku was competing for the second time for Albania in the Summer Olympics. [4] He advanced to the round of 16 in Men's freestyle 60 kg, where he lost to Bazar Bazarguruev from Kyrgyzstan. [5]

Elis Guri made his debut at the Summer Olympics in wrestling in the Men's Greco-Roman 96 kg category. In the round of 16 he defeated the Olympic champion of 2004, Karam Gaber, after three matches. In the quarterfinals he faced Mirko Englich of Germany. Despite a first-match win, Guri lost the other two matches and didn't qualify to the semifinals. [6] He finished in 7th place, the second best result for Albania at these Games. [7]

Athletics

Key
Men
AthleteEventQualificationFinal
DistancePositionDistancePosition
Dorian Çollaku Hammer throw 70.9828Did not advance
Women
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
Klodiana Shala 400 m 54.847Did not advance

Judo

Men
AthleteEventPreliminaryRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechage 1Repechage 2Repechage 3Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Edmond Topalli Men's −81 kg ByeFlag of Portugal.svg  Neto  (POR)
L 0000–1001
Did not advance

Shooting

Women
AthleteEventQualificationFinal
PointsRankPointsRank
Lindita Kodra 10 m air pistol 37040Did not advance
25 m pistol 57035Did not advance

Swimming

Men
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Sidni Hoxha 50 m freestyle 24.5663Did not advance
Women
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Rovena Marku 50 m freestyle 28.15=58Did not advance

Weightlifting

AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRank
ResultRankResultRank
Gert Trasha Men's −69 kg 136DNFDNF
Erkand Qerimaj Men's −77 kg 154121871334113
Romela Begaj Women's −58 kg 98=311872165

Wrestling

Key
Men's freestyle
AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechage 1Repechage 2Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Sahit Prizreni −60 kg ByeFlag of Kyrgyzstan (1992-2023).svg  Bazarguruev  (KGZ)
L 0–3 PO
Did not advance15
Men's Greco-Roman
AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechage 1Repechage 2Final / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Elis Guri −96 kg ByeFlag of Egypt.svg  Gaber  (EGY)
W 3–1 PP
Flag of Germany.svg  Englich  (GER)
L 1–3 PP
Did not advanceByeFlag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  Han T-Y  (KOR)
L 1–3 PP
Did not advance7

References

  1. "Road to Rio: Albanian wrestler Sahit Prizreni hoping for glory". SBS . 8 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  2. "Shqiperia ne Lojrat olimpike"Pekini2008"". 24 July 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  3. "Historia e shtatë Olimpiadave shqiptare". 7 August 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  4. "Sahit Prizreni". Olympics.com (in German). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  5. "Wrestling-Freestyle men's 60kg last 16 results". Reuters. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  6. "Shqipëria olimpike pa medalje olimpike (Pjesa e katërt)". 24 January 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  7. "The ten best Albanian athletes of 2008". telegrafi.com. 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2025.