Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie is a former Bahamian sprinter who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. Ferguson-McKenzie participated in five Olympics.
Afghanistan sent a delegation to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, which were held from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the eleventh appearance of the nation in the Summer Olympics and their first since their reinstatement to the International Olympic Committee in 2003 following a four-year ban due to the Taliban government's discrimination against women and their opposition to them playing sports. The delegation consisted of five athletes: sprinters Masoud Azizi and Robina Muqimyar, boxer Basharmal Sultani, judoka Friba Rezayee and wrestler Bashir Ahmad Rahmati. Muqimayar and Rezayee's inclusion in the Afghan delegation marked the first time the country sent a woman athlete to a Summer Olympics. All five failed to progress any further than the preliminary round of their respective sports and Afghanistan's best performance at the Games was by Muqimayar who set a new national women's 100 metre record in her heat.
Sanya Richards-Ross is a retired Jamaican-born American track and field athlete who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being the 2012 Olympic champion, 2009 world champion, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, and 2005 world silver medalist. With her victory in 2012, she became the second American woman to win the 400 meters at the Olympic Games and the first American woman to earn multiple global 400-meter titles. At this distance, Richards-Ross is also a six-time U.S. national champion.
Friba Rezayee, is a Hazara judoka, who is perhaps best known as one of the first two women athletes from Afghanistan to compete in the Summer Olympics. The Taliban controlling most of Afghanistan had caused the country to be banned from the Olympics in 1999 due to discrimination against women under Taliban rule as well as its prohibition of sports of any kind, and thus missed out on the Sydney Olympics of the year 2000. In June 2003, the IOC lifted the suspension imposed on Afghanistan during the 115th IOC Session in Prague, and the country sent a delegation of five competitors to the Athens Games in 2004. Rezayee and Robina Muqimyar were two women contingents in the delegation, becoming the first ever women to compete for Afghanistan at the Olympics.
Afghanistan has competed in 15 Summer Games. They have never appeared in any Winter Games. The country made its first appearance at the Berlin Games in 1936. It has sent a delegation to 14 of the 19 subsequent Summer Games since then. It is organised by the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Committee is currently in exile and presided by Hafizullah Wali Rahimi: the International Olympic Committee has not recognized the Taliban regime's Committee, headed by Ahmadullah Wasiq.
Vanuatu competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. A total of three Vanuatuan athletes competed in two sports. Moses Kamut and Elis Lapenmal competed in, respectively, the men's and women's 100m sprints, and Priscilla Tommy competed in women's singles table tennis after being selected by the IOC's Tripartite Commission. Tommy's appearance in particular was Vanuatu's debut into table tennis. Tommy was also the country's flagbearer during the opening ceremony. The Vanuatuan delegation to Beijing included the country's head of state and prime minister, but only included Elis Lapenmal; the other two athletes did not accompany the delegation and arrived in China at different times.
Tuvalu competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, from 8 to 24 August 2008. This was the nation's first ever appearance in an Olympic Game. The delegation included two track and field athletes and one weightlifter. Okilani Tinilau and Asenate Manoa participated in athletics while Logona Esau participated in the weightlifting sport. Both track and field athletes achieved national records. Logona Esau led the Tuvaluan squad as the nation's flag bearer in the parade of nations.
Gambia took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. It was Gambia's seventh appearance in the summer Olympics since its debut in 1984. The Gambia team included three athletes; runners Suwaibou Sanneh and Fatou Tiyana as well as boxer Badou Jack. Jack, a middleweight at his first Olympics, was selected as flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. None of the Gambia athletes progressed further than the qualifying heats.
Afghanistan sent a team to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The team consisted of three men and one woman. Initially, Mehboba Ahdyar prepared to run the 800 metres and 1500 metres, but left her training camp on June 4 to seek political asylum in Norway. The country was represented by two competitors in athletics, and two in taekwondo. Afghanistan won its first ever Olympic medal at these games, with Rohullah Nikpai taking bronze in men's 58 kg taekwondo.
Mehboba Ahdyar is an Afghan athlete. She was scheduled to be the only woman representing Afghanistan at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she planned to compete in athletics in the women's 1,500 metres and 3,000 metres events.
Masoud Azizi is an Afghan athlete. His personal best time in the 100m sprint is 11.11 seconds, achieved in April 2005 in Mecca. In 2013 Azizi failed a doping test at the 2013 World Championships, and was suspended for two years.
Jamaica sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. This was, by far, Jamaica's best showing at the Summer Olympics; it was the nation's largest delegation yet, and its athletes nearly doubled its total gold medal count in addition to breaking the nation's record for number of medals earned in a single games. Jamaica's appearance at Beijing was its fifteenth consecutive appearance and appearance as an independent nation, although it had previously participated in four other games as a British colony and as part of the West Indies Federation. In the 29 events that included Jamaican athletes, there were 26 cases in which a Jamaican athlete or relay progressed to a final round. Usain Bolt won three of Jamaica's six gold medals at Beijing, breaking an Olympic and world record in all three of the events in which he participated. Shelly-Ann Fraser led an unprecedented Jamaican sweep of the medals in the Women's 100 m. Female sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown carried Jamaica's flag at the ceremonies.
Lima Azimi, born in 1981 or 1982, is an Afghan track and field athlete.
Comoros took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. It was Comoros's fourth appearance in the summer Olympics since its debut in 1996. The Comoros team included three athletes: runners Mhadjou Youssouf and Feta Ahamada, and swimmer Mohamed Attoumane. Ahamada, a 100 metres sprinter, was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony, the first woman to be given the honour. None of the Comoros athletes progressed further than the qualifying heats.
Montell Marcelle Douglas is a British multi-sports Olympian. Originally a sprinter and former British record holder for the 100 metres at 11.05 seconds, she competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Taking up bobsleigh in 2016 and becoming part of the Great Britain two-woman bobsleigh team the following year, she competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is one of the two athletes, the other being Jaqueline Mourão, who participated in both of the Olympic Games hosted by Beijing. Outside of competing, she went on to appear as "Fire" in the 2024 BBC One reboot of Gladiators, and was subsequently a contestant on the twenty-second series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Chad sent a delegation of two athletes to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China: Moumi Sébergué, who competed in the men's 100 meters, and Hinikissia Albertine Ndikert, who competed in the women's 100 meters and also bore the Chadian flag during ceremonies. The appearance of this delegation marked the tenth appearance of Chad at the Summer Olympics, the first been in 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and its seventh appearance since its Olympic hiatus between 1976 and 1980. Both Sébergué and Ndikert ranked seventh in their respective heats and did not advance past the qualification round. As of the end of the 2012 London Olympics, there have been no medalists from Chad.
Djibouti took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. The country's participation at Beijing marked its sixth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1984. The Djibouti delegation included two athletes in 2008; Mahamoud Farah, a middle-distance runner, and Fathia Ali Bouraleh, a sprinter. Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djibouti's only Olympic medalist, was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies despite not competing in 2008. None of the Djiboutian athletes progressed further than the heat round.
Mareena Karim, born in 1989 or 1990, is an Afghan track and field athlete.
Sandrine Carmen Genevieve Thiébaud-Kangni is a French-Togolese Athlete 1990 tp 2000. 400 metres French Junior Record older since 1995. 53sec73 .4×400 meters 3.32.79 transfere allégeance 2001 to Togolese sprinter and heptathlete. She is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time national record holder for the 400m and heptathlon. She is also the daughter of middle-distance runner Roger Kangni, who competed in the 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Afghanistan competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation at Rio de Janeiro marked its fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics and fourteenth in total. Afghanistan had officially made its debut in 1936 and missed five editions since then. Rohullah Nikpai, who had previously won a medal for Afghanistan in taekwondo, did not participate. In Rio, Afghanistan failed to earn a single Olympic medal for the first time since 2004.
Afghanistan 