Tonga at the 2016 Summer Olympics

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Tonga at the
2016 Summer Olympics
Flag of Tonga.svg
IOC code TGA
NOC Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee
Website www.oceaniasport.com/tonga
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors7 in 4 sports
Flag bearer (opening) Pita Taufatofua [1]
Flag bearer (closing) Siueni Filimone
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Tonga competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This is the nation's ninth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.

Contents

Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games since its official debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. A total of seven athletes, four men and three women, were selected to the Tongan team across four different sports; four of them granted universality places to compete in their respective sporting events, with the other three qualifying for the Games on merit through continental tournaments. [1]

Breaststroke swimmer Amini Fonua was the only Tongan athlete to have represented at the previous Games, with the rest of the field making their Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro. Tonga's first ever taekwondo fighter and oldest competitor (aged 32) at the Olympics, Pita Taufatofua, who led his delegation as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony, instantly became an internet sensation by millions of viewers, when he marched into the Maracanã Stadium shirtless, smothered in coconut oil, and dressed in a traditional ta'ovala (a Tongan mat). [2]

Tonga, however, failed to win its first Olympic medal since the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where boxer Paea Wolfgramm bagged the silver in the men's super heavyweight division.

Archery

One Tongan archer has qualified each for the men's and women's individual recurve at the Olympics with a top two finish at the Oceania Qualification Tournament in Nuku'alofa. [3] This is Tonga's return to the Olympic competition in the sport after a 12-year hiatus.

AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemi-finalsFinal / BM
ScoreSeedOpposition
Score		Opposition
Score		Opposition
Score		Opposition
Score		Opposition
Score		Opposition
Score		Rank
Arne Jensen Men's individual 60461Flag of the Netherlands.svg  van den Berg  (NED)
L 3–7		Did not advance
Lusitania Tatafu Women's individual 55963Flag of South Korea.svg  Chang H-j  (KOR)
L 0–6		Did not advance

Athletics

Tonga received universality slots from IAAF to send two athletes (one male and one female) to the Olympics. [4] [5] [6]

Key
Track & road events
AthleteEventHeatQuarter-finalSemi-finalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRank
Siueni Filimone Men's 100 m 10.762 QDNSDid not advance
Taina Halasima Women's 100 m 12.806Did not advance

Swimming

Tonga has received a Universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics. [6] [7] [8]

AthleteEventHeatSemi-finalFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Amini Fonua Men's 100 m breaststroke 1:06.4045Did not advance
Irene Prescott Women's 50 m freestyle 28.6861Did not advance

Taekwondo

Tonga entered one athlete into the taekwondo competition for the first time at the Olympics. Pita Taufatofua secured a spot in the men's heavyweight category (+80 kg) by virtue of his top finish at the 2016 Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. [9]

AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemi-finalsRepechageFinal / BM
Opposition
Result		Opposition
Result		Opposition
Result		Opposition
Result		Opposition
Result		Rank
Pita Taufatofua Men's +80 kg Flag of Iran.svg  Mardani  (IRI)
L 1–16 PTG		Did not advance

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Seven Tongan athletes bound for Rio Olympics". Nuku'alofa: Matangi Tonga. 21 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Dostis, Melanie (5 August 2016). "Internet in a frenzy over Olympics hot flag-bearer Pita Taufatofua — a Taekwondo athlete from Tonga". Daily News . New York. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Tonga and Fiji archers qualify for Olympics". Nuku'alofa Times. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Rio 2016 Entry Standards" (PDF). IAAF . Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Sport: Tonga still hopeful government will offer funds for Olympic campaign". Radio New Zealand. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Swimming World Rankings". FINA . Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Rio 2016 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Rio 2016 . FINA . Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "8 Taekwondo Athletes, Including 2 'Family Affairs,' Win Places for Rio Olympics at Oceania Tournament". World Taekwondo Federation. 27 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
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