Somalia sent a delegation to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Since the nation's debut in 1972, Somalia competed in every Summer Olympics except for three occasions: 1976, due to Congolese-led boycott, 1980, due to US led boycott, and 1992, due to political reasons. It was the nation's 11th appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Somalia's team consisted of one male athletics athlete, Ali Idow Hassan, and he served as the country's opening ceremony flagbearer. Ultimately, Ali Idow Hassan was eliminated for not starting in the repechage, failing to earn his Olympic medal as a result.
Somalia took part in the 2024 Summer Olympics from 26 July to 11 August 2024.[8] The delegation consisted of one male athletics athlete, Ali Idow Hassan.[9][8] Hassan was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony.[1] A volunteer carried the flag for the closing ceremony.[2]
Competitors
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[8]
Somalia received one wild card for a middle-distance runner to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics,[10] and Ali Idow Hassan was selected by the Somali Olympic Committee. Hassan was 26 years old at the time of the Paris Games[11]. He was competing in his second Olympic Games after the 2020 Summer Olympics.[11][12] On 7 August, he participated in the first round heats of the men's 800 metres.[13] Drawn to the second heat, Hassan finished the race in a time of 1 minute and 48.72 seconds, placed eighth out of nine runners in his heat.[13] As only the first three runners in each heat advanced to the semi-finals, Hassan was placed into the repechage. [13] On 8 August, Hassan was assigned to third heat of the repechage. [13] He did not start (DNS) the repechage, and was therefore eliminated.[13]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
Somalia has faced controversies regarding athlete selection for major international competitions for a long time. In 2023, during the World University Games in Chengdu, China, novice sprinter Nasra Abukar Ali, the niece of Somali Athletics Federation senior vice-president Khadija Aden Dahir, competed in the women's 100 metres and finished last with a time of 21.81 seconds, sparking widespread allegations of nepotism and corruption. These issues extended to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where middle-distance runner Ali Idow Hassan was selected as Somalia's sole athletics representative for the men's 800 metres, but failed to start in the repechage round and was eliminated. Criticism focused on the Somali Olympic Committee's decision to exclude Abdullahi Jama Mahamed, who had secured Somalia's first global athletics medal in over 35 years with a silver in the 5000 metres at the 2023 African Games, in favor of less accomplished athletes, fueling further accusations of corruption and mismanagement within the federation.
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