Marshall Islands at the 2024 Summer Olympics

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Marshall Islands at the
2024 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg
IOC code MHL
NOC Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee
Website www.oceaniasport.com/marshalls
in Paris, France
26 July 2024 (2024-07-26) – 11 August 2024 (2024-08-11)
Competitors4 in 3 sports
Flag bearer (opening) William Reed & Mattie Sasser
Flag bearer (closing) Phillip Kinono & Mattie Sasser
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

The Marshall Islands competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, which were held from 26 July to 11 August 2024. It was the country's fifth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 2008. The country's delegation contained four athletes: Kayla Hepler and Phillip Kinono in swimming, William Reed in athletics, and Mattie Sasser in weightlifting. Reed and Sasser were the flagbearers for the nation at the opening ceremony, while Kinono and Sasser were the flagbearers at the closing ceremony. The delegation was supported by a collaboration between the Australian Government and the Australian Olympic Committee, which was established for the development of sport in Pacific nations.

Contents

Hepler, Kinono, and Reed qualified after receiving universality slots, while Sasser qualified after being the highest ranked athlete from a continent outside of the top 10. Kinono competed first in the men's 50 meter freestyle, but did not progress further after not finishing with a fast enough time in the heats. Hepler competed the following day in the women's 50 meter freestyle, but also did not progress further. The same day, Reed competed in the men's 100 meters, running a personal best time in the preliminaries but did not advance further. Finally, Sasser competed in the women's 59 kg event and placed tenth, the highest Olympic placement by a Marshallese athlete. Thus, the Marshall Islands has yet to win an Olympic medal.

Background

The games were held from 26 July to 11 August 2024, in the city of Paris, France. [1] This edition of the games marked the nation's fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. No athlete from the Marshall Islands had ever won a medal at the Olympics, the best performance was the eleventh place of weightlifter Mattie Sasser in the women's 58 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [2]

In the lead-up to the games, the Australian Government announced a collaboration with the Australian Olympic Committee to assist over 230 athletes from 13 Pacific nations [a] for the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Paralympics, which included the Marshall Islands. The collaboration was made to create opportunities for said nations to compete in international competition, gain access to coaching, and to develop sports diplomacy. On 21 March, Australian Ambassador to the Marshall Islands Paul Wilson invited Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee (MINOC) president Anthony Muller and MINOC secretary general Amy Sasser at the Australian Embassy in the Marshall Islands to recognize Australia's support for the athletes of the nation. [4] [3] The delegation went to a training camp in Divonne-les-Bains with other Pacific athletes for their preparations for the games. [5]

Opening and closing ceremonies

The Marshall Islands delegation came in 118th out of the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the 2024 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations within the opening ceremony. Reed and Sasser held the flag for the delegation. [6] At the closing ceremony, Kinono and Sasser were the flag bearers. [7]

Competitors

List of Marshallese competitors at the 2024 Summer Olympics
SportMenWomenTotal
Athletics 101
Swimming 112
Weightlifting 011
Total224

Athletics

Qualification and lead-up to the games

The Stade de France, where Reed competed in his event Stade de France 5 August 2024.jpg
The Stade de France, where Reed competed in his event

The Marshall Islands was eligible for a universality slot to send an athletics competitor to the games, which allows a National Olympic Committee (NOC) to send athletes despite not meeting the standard qualification criteria. [8] The Marshall Islands sent sprinter William Reed, who would compete in the men's 100 meters. The lead-up to the games saw Reed compete at the 2023 Oceania Athletics Cup in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, and 2024 Micronesian Games in Majuro, Marshall Islands. He set the national record in the high jump at the former with 1.90 meters. [9] He was coached by his father, Geary Reed. [‡ 1]

Event

Making his Olympic debut, Reed competed in his event on 2 August 2024 at 10:35 a.m., which was held at the Stade de France. He raced in the first heat of the preliminary round against seven other competitors. He finished with a time of 11.29 seconds, placed sixth in the heat, and did not progress further. Despite not progressing, he set a new personal best and a national under-20 record in the event. [9] [10] [11] Noah Lyles of the United States eventually won the gold in a time of 9.784 seconds. [12]

Athletics summary
AthleteEventPreliminaryHeatSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRank
William Reed Men's 100 m 11.29 PB 6Did not advance
  • Note: Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only

Swimming

Qualification and lead-up to the games

The Paris La Defense Arena, where Hepler and Kinono competed in their events 2024 Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics - 2024-07-27 - 3.jpg
The Paris La Défense Arena, where Hepler and Kinono competed in their events

The Marshall Islands were eligible for universality slots to send swimmers to the games. [8] The nation selected Kayla Hepler and Phillip Kinono, who would compete in the women's 50 meter freestyle and men's 50 meter freestyle respectively. [13] Kinono also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the same event, where he placed 70th, [14] while Hepler's sister, Ann-Marie Hepler, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the same event as hers, placing 49th. [15] [16] Kinono initially trained in a saltwater pool located in the nation before moving to the United States five years before the games for his training and for his studies at Iowa Lakes Community College. [17] Hepler trained in Florida for a month before the games, where she was coached by her mother, Amy LaCost, the chef de mission of the Marshall Islands at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [18] [19]

Event

Kinono first competed in his event on 1 August 2024 at 11:21 p.m., which was held in the Paris La Défense Arena. He competed in the second of the heats and swam a new personal best time of 27.43 seconds. He placed first out of the seven swimmers in his heat, [17] though finished with a time not fast enough to progress to later rounds, and placed 64th overall. The eventual winner of the event was Cameron McEvoy of Australia with a time of 21.25 seconds. [20] [21] After he competed in his event, he expressed his thanks for representing the nation at the games. [17]

Hepler competed in her event on 3 August 2024 at 11:03 a.m., making her Olympic debut. She competed in the second of the heats and swam a personal best time of 30.33 seconds. [18] She placed second out of the eight swimmers in her heat, finished with a time not enough to progress to later rounds, and placed 64th overall. The eventual winner of the event was Sarah Sjöström of Sweden with a time of 23.71 seconds. [22] [23] After Hepler competed in her event, she praised the people and athletes she met during her stint at the games. [15]

Swimming summary
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Phillip Kinono Men's 50 m freestyle 27.43 PB64 [b] Did not advance
Kayla Hepler Women's 50 m freestyle 30.33 PB62 [b] Did not advance

Weightlifting

Qualification and lead-up to the games

The Marshall Islands sent one weightlifter to the games based on the International Weightlifting Federation's Qualification Ranking. Mattie Sasser qualified after being the highest ranked athlete from a continent outside of the top 10 ranked athletes in her category, beating Kiana Elliot of Australia with a total of 216 kilograms. Sasser was ranked 12th overall. [24] [25] The lead-up to the games saw her compete at the 2023 IWF Grand Prix I, the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, the 2023 Pacific Games, which doubled as the 2023 Oceania Weightlifting Championships, where she won three golds in both competitions, then followed by the 2024 Oceanian Weightlifting Championships, where she won one gold and two silvers, and the 2024 IWF World Cup. [26]

Sasser also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's 58 kg event, where she placed eleventh. [2] As a dual citizen of both the Marshall Islands and the United States, she moved abroad and started representing the latter country in international competition. She tried qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, for the United States but was injured and had to get knee surgery. She then switched her sporting nationality back to the Marshall Islands in 2023 to qualify for these games. She was coached by Casey Knuth and trained in Samoa before the games. [27]

Event

Sasser competed in her event on 8 August 2024, which was held in the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. She failed to lift her first and second attempts at the snatch at 94 kilograms, then successfully lifted the same weight on her last attempt. She successfully clean and jerked 110 kilograms for her first attempt, then lifted 115 kilograms for her second, ultimately failing her last attempt at 118 kilograms. She ended with a total of 209 kilograms, placing her tenth out of twelve competitors, the highest Olympic finish by a Marshallese athlete. The winner of the event was Luo Shifang with a total of 241 kilograms. [28] After her event, she commented her desire for more women in her country to pursue weightlifting. She also commented her concerns of the possible removal of weightlifting as an Olympic sport after the 2028 Summer Olympics. [29]

Weightlifting summary
AthleteEventSnatchClean & jerkTotalRank
ResultRankResultRank
Mattie Sasser Women's 59 kg 94121151020910

Notes

  1. Among the nations that were supported for the games included the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. [3] [4]
  2. 1 2 Qualifiers for the latter rounds (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats.

References

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  3. 1 2 Sánchez, Jesus Lopez (2 March 2024). "Australia supports Pacific athletes for Paris 2024". Inside the Games . Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Getting set for success: 100 days to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games". PacificAus Sports. Archived from the original on 15 October 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
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  9. 1 2 "William Reed". World Athletics . Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
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  11. "RMI athletes perform in Paris". The Marshall Islands Journal . 9 August 2024. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  12. Burga, Solcyré (4 August 2024). "This Image of Noah Lyles Winning the 100 m is the Definition of a Photo Finish". Time . Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  13. "Entries list - Swimming" (PDF). World Aquatics . Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025 via SwimSwam.
  14. "Phillip Kinono". Olympedia . Archived from the original on 3 January 2025.
  15. 1 2 Stanton, Tom (5 August 2024). "Olympic Dream Comes True For NWU Athlete". KLIN . Archived from the original on 14 March 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  16. "Annie Hepler". Olympedia . Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  17. 1 2 3 Salalo, Sereana (2 August 2024). "Kinono's Sacrifice for the Olympics". Oceania National Olympic Committees . Pacnews. Archived from the original on 1 September 2024.
  18. 1 2 Salalo, Sereana (4 August 2024). "Kayla Hepler Follows Sister's Footsteps at the Olympics". Oceania National Olympic Committees . Pacnews. Archived from the original on 14 March 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
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  22. "Swimming Women's 50m Freestyle Heat 2" (PDF). Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games . 3 August 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  23. "Swimming Women's 50m Freestyle Summary" (PDF). Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games . 4 August 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  24. "Games of the XXXIII Olympiad - Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Ranking Final" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation . 21 June 2024. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  25. Oliver, Brian (3 April 2024). "Phuket, Day 4: Glory and tears for Olympic champions, and a world record for China in 'best ever session'". International Weightlifting Federation . Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  26. "Sasser Mathlynn Langtor". International Weightlifting Federation . Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  27. Oliver, Brian (12 June 2023). "US weightlifters battle for Paris 2024 rankings while former team-mate Sasser shines". Inside the Games . Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  28. "Weightlifting Women's 59 kg" (PDF). Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games . 8 August 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 August 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  29. Osifelo, Elizabeth (10 August 2024). "Mathlynn Sasser Hopes to Inspire Future Generations in Weightlifting". Oceania National Olympic Committees . Pacnews. Archived from the original on 6 December 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2025.

Primary sources

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):