Related Research Articles
American Samoa sent a team to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The U.S. territory selected four athletes to compete in three sports: swimming, athletics and judo. The dependency's participation in Beijing marked its seventh participation in any Olympic game since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and its sixth participation at any Summer Olympic games. Of the four American Samoan athletes who participated in Beijing, all four were first-time Olympians and born outside American Samoa and none of the four advanced past the qualification or preliminary rounds of their events. More women participated in the 2008 American Samoan Olympic delegation than in any one delegation in its Olympic history. Judoka Silulu A'etonu was the territory's flagbearer at the ceremonies.
Swaziland sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8–24, 2008. This was the Kingdom's eighth appearance at a Summer Olympic Games. The Swazi delegation to Beijing consisted of four competitors, two track and field athletes; Isaiah Msibi and Temalangeni Dlamini; and two swimmers; Luke Hall and Senele Dlamini. None of the four advanced beyond the first round of their respective events.
Bolivia sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China. The South American country's delegation was the fifteenth Summer Olympic team and seventeenth overall Olympic team overall sent by the country. Bolivia's National Olympic Committee sent seven athletes–three women and four men–across five sports and seven distinct events. A substantial number of the athletes originated in southern Bolivian cities, most notably Santa Cruz de la Sierra. All athletes except for cyclist Horacio Gallardo finished their events, although no medals were won by the country at these Games. Trap shooter César Menacho was the Bolivian flag bearer at the ceremonies.
Anna Stylianou is a Cypriot swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. Stylianou made her official debut, as a 14-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she placed forty-fourth overall in the women's 100 m freestyle, with a time of 59.08 seconds.
Yoris Grandjean is a Belgian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He won two gold medals at the 2006 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships, and later represented Belgium at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since 2009, he still currently holds a Belgian record (22.13) in the 50 m freestyle from the national championships in Antwerp. Grandjean also trains for Liège Swimming Club under his head coach Andre Henvaux.
Rugilė Mileišytė is a Lithuanian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a multiple-time Lithuanian champion and a five-time national record holder for both the freestyle and medley relay events. Mileišytė is a member of the swimming team for the Washington State Cougars, and a graduate of social sciences at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
Ximene Gomes is a Mozambican swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation Mozambique at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing among the top 60 swimmers in the women's 50 m freestyle.
Marianela Quesada Barrantes is a Costa Rican swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation Costa Rica at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and currently holds a Costa Rican national record in both the 50 and 100 m freestyle.
Nina Sovinek is a Slovenian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation Slovenia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also served as a member of the Slovenian Olympic Swimming Club under head coach Aleš Poljak.
Veronica Vdovicenco is a Moldovan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Vdovicenco qualified for the women's 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 26.30 from the Belarus Championships in Minsk. She challenged seven other swimmers on the sixth heat, including returning Olympian Ellen Lendra Hight of Zambia. She raced to fifth place by 0.28 of a second behind Christel Simms of the Philippines, with a time of 26.92 seconds. Vdovicenco failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed fiftieth out of 92 swimmers in the preliminary heats.
Nieh Pin-chieh is a Taiwanese swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented the Chinese Taipei national team in two editions of the Olympic Games, competing in a sprint freestyle double.
Mariya Bugakova is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly and sprint freestyle events. She represented Uzbekistan at three editions of the Olympic Games. She is also the elder sister of backstroke swimmer and two-time Olympian Danil Bugakov. Bugakova is a law school graduate at the Tashkent State University of Economics.
Irina Shlemova is an Uzbek former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian and a member of Oltin Suv Swimming Club, under the tutelage of her personal coach Daniya Galandinova.
Anna-Liza Mopio-Jane is a Papua New Guinean swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation Papua New Guinea at the 2008 Summer Olympics, swimming in the 50 m freestyle. Before her retirement from competitive swimming career in 2012, Mopio-Jane trained for Chandler Swim Club in her current residence Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, under the tutelage of head coach Drew McGregor.
Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir, also known as Ragga Ragnars is an Icelandic actress and former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. She is a multiple-time Icelandic record holder in both long and short course freestyle. After retiring from swimming, Ragnheiður studied acting and has played the role of Gunnhild on the TV series Vikings since 2018.
Anas Hamadeh is a Jordanian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He represented his nation Jordan at the 2008 Summer Olympics, placing himself among the top 60 swimmers in the 50 m freestyle.
Melissa Jane Corfe is a South African swimmer, who specialised in freestyle and backstroke events. She is a multiple-time South African champion and record holder for her respective events. Corfe represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won a total of five medals, including three golds in the women's freestyle, at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria. She also set two national records, as a member of the South African swimming team, in the freestyle and medley relays, at the 2008 FINA World Short Course Championships in Manchester, England.
Virginia Farmer is an American Samoan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. At age thirty-two, Farmer made her official debut for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed in the women's 50 m freestyle. She finished third in the fourth heat by twelve hundredths of a second (0.12) behind Swaziland's Senele Dlamini, with a time of 28.82 seconds. Farmer, however, failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed sixty-second out of ninety-two swimmers in the overall rankings.
Sandra Kazíková is a Czech former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She posted a long-course national record time of 25.99 seconds, by winning the 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Czech Winter Championships in Pardubice. Kazikova is also a member of the swimming team for Slavia VŠ Plzeň, and is coached and trained by Ivana Felgrova.
Chang Hee-jin is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian, and a three-time All-American swimmer in the same stroke. Chang is also a former varsity swimmer for the Texas Longhorns, and a graduate of political science at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Prior to her time with the Longhorns, she attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where she was a 4-year varsity athlete and a formerly held various NEPSAC swimming records.
References
- ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Senele Dlamini". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ↑ "Swimming: Women's 50m Freestyle Heat 4". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
