Hala Gezah

Last updated

Hala Gezah (born September 17, 1989 in Tripoli) is a Libyan sprinter. [1] She competed in the 100 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She was the only female athlete to compete for Libya at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Contents

Early life

When she was a child, her father, a football player, encouraged her to be an athlete. She practices the Islamic faith. [2]

Gezah's athletic training was interrupted after the dictator of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown. The political change interrupted communication with a local athletic federation and left the Libyan Olympic Committee without funds. [2]

Aside from training as a runner, Gezah also studied science. [2]

Career

Gezah only participated in one competition in 2012 prior to the Olympic games. Her result at the biennial African athletics championships in Benin was not enough to qualify for the Olympic games. Gezah was the only Libyan woman to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Because the International Olympic Committee encourages participation from many countries, Libya was able to send one athlete in athletics and chose Gezah. She was one of only four Libyan athletes to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics and the only female Libyan athlete to compete. [2] On August 3, 2012, she ran the preliminaries for the women's 100 metres in 13.24 seconds, placing 23 out of 33 wildcard participants, which did not qualify her for Round 1. [2] [3]

Her personal best recorded times in competition are 13.15 seconds in the 100 metres and 27.32 seconds in the 200 metres. Both results were recorded at Porto Novo on 27 June 2012 and 30 June 2012. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muriel Hurtis-Houairi</span> French sprinter

Muriel Hurtis-Houairi is a French track and field athlete. She came to prominence in 2002 when she won the 200 m gold medals at both the European Indoor Championships and the European Athletics Championships. The following year she added the World Indoor title and won a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and a gold in the 4×100 metres relay with France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivet Lalova-Collio</span> Bulgarian sprinter

Ivet Miroslavova Lalova-Collio is a Bulgarian athlete who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres sprint events. She is the 13th-fastest woman in the history of the 100 metres. She finished fourth in the 100 metres and fifth in the 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her career was interrupted for two years between June 2005 and May 2007 due to a leg injury sustained in a collision with another athlete. In June 2012 she won gold at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in the Women's 100 metres. In July 2016 she won two silver medals at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in both the Women's 100 and 200 metres. She has participated at five editions of the Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaVerne Jones-Ferrette</span> United States Virgin Islands sprinter

LaVerne Janet Jones-Ferrette is a sprinter from the United States Virgin Islands who specializes in the 100 and 200 meters. She represented her country at the Summer Olympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won the silver medal over 60 meters at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in a time of 6.97 seconds; a subsequent drug test revealed a banned substance in her system and she was stripped of her medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres</span>

The men's 100 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4–5 August 2012. Seventy-four athletes from 61 nations competed. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition comprised four rounds: a preliminary round for entrants without the minimum qualifying standard, a heats round, followed by three semi-finals of eight athletes each, which then reduced to eight athletes for the final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Virgin Islands at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The British Virgin Islands sent a delegation to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, which took place between 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation in London marked its eighth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The British Virgin Islands delegation included two track and field athletes, 100 meter sprinters J'maal Alexander and Tahesia Harrigan-Scott. Alexander failed to progress through the heats whilst Harrigan-Scott was eliminated in her event's quarterfinals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Verde at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Cape Verde competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics which were held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1996. The delegation included Ruben Sança, a long-distance runner; Lidiane Lopes, a sprinter; and Adysângela Moniz, a judoka. Moniz and Sança were also selected as the flag bearers for the opening and closing ceremonies respectively. Of the three Cape Verdean athletes, only Moniz progressed further than the first round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comoros at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Comoros competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes: Maoulida Darouèche and Feta Ahamada, and one swimmer, Ayouba Ali Sihame, all three qualified for the Games through wildcard places. Ahamada was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony and Darouèche held it at the closing ceremony. Ahamada won her heat in the preliminary round of the women's 100 metres but was eliminated in the heat stages, while Darouèche and Sihame did not advance beyond the first round of their respective events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djibouti at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Djibouti competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's seventh appearance at the Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equatorial Guinea at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Equatorial Guinea competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its eighth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes, Benjamín Enzema and Bibiana Olama who both qualified for the Games via wildcard places because their fastest times did not meet the required qualification standards. Olama was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Both athletes did not advance beyond the first round of their respective events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gambia at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The Gambia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its eighth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two athletes, Suwaibou Sanneh and Saruba Colley, the former had qualified by setting a qualifying time that fell within the required standard and the latter entered via a wildcard place. Sanneh was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Sanneh became the first Gambian athlete to advance into the semi-finals of the men's 100 metres, while Colley was eliminated after the quarter-final stages of the Women's 100 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zambia at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Zambia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its twelfth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1964 Summer Olympics. The delegation consisted of seven competitors; three track and field athletes Gerald Phiri, Prince Mumba and Chauzje Choosha, one each in Boxing and Judo and two swimmers, Zane Jordan and Jade Ashleigh Howard. Phiri, Mumba, Choombe and Munyonga had qualified by meeting the standards in their respective sports, and Choosha, Jordan and Howard qualified by wildcard places. Mumba was the national flag bearer at the opening and closing ceremonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepal at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Nepal competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its twelfth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1964 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes; Tilak Ram Tharu and Pramila Rijal, one shooter Sneh Rana and two swimmers; Prasiddha Jung Shah and Shreya Dhital; all five competitors qualified for the Games through wildcard places from their respective sporting governing bodies. It was the smallest delegation sent by Nepal since the 1992 Summer Olympics. Shah was selected as the flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies. Four of the five athletes were unable to progress beyond the first stages of their respective events while Rana finished 54th in the women's 10 metre air rifle shooting competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maldives at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The Asian island nation of the Maldives competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Olympics, the delegation consisted of two athletes each in track and field and swimming. For the first time since their debut at the Summer Olympics, the Maldives entered one badminton player into the Olympics. Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed, the inaugural Maldivian badminton player to compete at the Olympics, was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony with Azneem Ahmed carrying the Maldivian flag in the closing ceremony. All the athletes qualified for the games through wild cards from International Association of Athletic Federations FINA and Badminton World Federation. The Maldives however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">São Tomé and Príncipe at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fifth appearance at the Olympics since its debut in 1996. Two track and field athletes, Christopher Lima da Costa and Lecabela Quaresma were selected to the team by wildcard places, without having qualified at any sporting event. Quaresma was selected as flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies. Neither of the two athletes progressed beyond the first round of their respective events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laos at the 2012 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Laos competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London when the event took place from 27 July to 12 August 2012. It was the nation's eighth overall appearance following their Olympic debut in 1980. Laos had previously competed in seven consecutive Olympics prior to London apart from the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott. Two athletes and one swimmer were selected to the Laotian Olympic team after the country did not qualify any competitors.

Chauness Chauzje Choosha is a Zambian sprinter. She participated in the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships where she established a new Zambian national record in the 60 metres, and was eliminated at the semi-final stage of the 100 metres at the African Championships in Athletics. Choosha qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics via a wildcard and did not qualify for the preliminary round of the 100 metres.

Lidiane Lopes is a Cape Verdean sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is the current Cape Verdean record holder in the 100-metre sprint. Lopes has competed at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. At both Olympics, she competed in the 100 metres. She has also competed in a World Championships, a World Junior Championships, a World Youth Championships, a Jeux de la Francophonie, a Lusophony Games, an African Games, and an Ibero-American Athletics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Sonali Merrill</span> Sri Lankan–American athlete (born 1987)

Christine Sonali Merrill, also simply known as Christine Merill, is a former Sri Lankan–American track and field athlete and mechanical engineer. During her career, she specialized in the 400m hurdles event and also occasionally competed in 100m, 200m, 100m hurdles, 4 × 100m relay and 4 × 400m relay events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">100 metres at the Olympics</span> Track and field event

The 100 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 100 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The 100 metres is considered one of the blue ribbon events of the Olympics and is among the highest profile competitions at the games. It is the most prestigious 100 metres race at an elite level and is the shortest sprinting competition at the Olympics – a position it has held at every edition except for a brief period between 1900 and 1904, when a men's 60 metres was contested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres</span> Olympic athletics event

The women's 100 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 71 athletes from 55 nations competed at the event.

References

  1. "Hala Gezah". London 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Olympic Athletics: Dream comes true for Libya's lone woman competitor | InterAksyon.com | Sports5". InterAksyon.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  3. "Women's 100m Results: Preliminaries". London 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  4. "IAAF: Hala Gezah | Profile". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2016-11-05.