Marcus Ajemada Stephen is a Nauruan politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan parliamentarian Lawrence Stephen, Stephen was educated at St Bedes College and RMIT University in Victoria, Australia. Initially playing Australian rules football, he opted to pursue the sport of weightlifting, in which he represented Nauru at the Summer Olympics and Commonwealth Games between 1990 and 2002, winning seven Commonwealth gold medals.
Nauru competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Nauru competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States from 19 July to 4 August 1996. The delegation consisted of three weightlifters; Quincy Detenamo, Gerard Garabwan, and Marcus Stephen. Their best performances were by Detenamo, who came 20th in the men's 76 kg category and Garabwan who finished 24th in the men's 91 kg event. Stephen failed to finish his event, but would later become President of the Republic.
Colombia first formally participated at the Olympic Games in 1932, and has sent athletes to compete in all but one edition of the Summer Olympic Games since then, missing only the 1952 Games. Colombian athletes have won a total of 34 Olympic medals in eight different sports, with weightlifting and cycling as the most successful ones. Colombia is the third most successful South American country at the Olympic Games, after Brazil and Argentina respectively. The Colombian Olympic Committee was created in 1936 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1948.
El Salvador first competed in the Olympic Games at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. It has participated in every Games of the Olympiad since that time, excluding those held in 1976 and 1980, when the nation joined the American-led boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The nation has never participated in the Olympic Winter Games and has not earned a medal at any Games of the Olympiad.
Nauru competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that were celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Nauru was represented by the Nauru Olympic Committee, and was the only nation out of 204 participating nations and territories that sent only a single athlete, and was one of 117 that won no medals at the Games. The sole athlete to represent the nation was Itte Detenamo, who participated in the weightlifting, and was the flag bearer in both the opening and closing ceremonies. This was the same number of athletes as at the 1996 Olympics, when Marcus Stephen represented the country in the same sport, but was a decrease from the nation's last appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to Athens. Nauru earned a berth for the weightlifting event in the Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships in 2008 and a chance to send participants in swimming and athletics events, but chose to send only a weightlifter. Itte Detenamo competed in the Group B of heavyweight class, fifteenth and last event of the weightlifting. He did not earn a medal, but finished with a personal best.
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.
Nauru was represented at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur by a team consisting in six weight-lifters and one runner, Aneri Canon. Marcus Stephen, who became President of Nauru nine years later, competed for the third time and won his country's only medals of the 1998 Games. There were no female competitors for Nauru, by contrast with the 2002 Games, in which women won ten of Nauru's fifteen medals, including its two gold.
Nauru has competed in seven editions of the Commonwealth Games to date, beginning in 1990. This very small country, which had a population of just 9,872 at the time of the 2002 census, succeeded in winning at least one medals on each occasion, including at least one gold in their first four appearances.
Reanna Solomon was a Nauruan weightlifter. She was the first female Nauruan athlete to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and remains one of the only three Nauruans ever to have won a Commonwealth Games gold, the others being Marcus Stephen and Yukio Peter.
Itte Junior Ronson Detenamo is a Nauruan weightlifter competing in the +105 kg category.
David Katoatau is an I-Kiribati weightlifter who received international press attention due to dance routines he performed following his lifts at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in order to bring attention to the impact of climate change on Kiribati.
Nauru Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee representing Nauru. It represents and organises the Olympic movement on the island. The NNOC was founded in 1991 and was recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1994. It is also the body responsible for Nauru's representation at the Commonwealth Games.
Quincy Saul Detenamo was an Olympic weightlifter who was found guilty of manslaughter in Australia.
The Oceanic island nation of Kiribati competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, held from July 27 – August 12, 2012. This was the nation's third appearance at the Olympics.
Nauru competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The delegation consisted of two participants: Sled Dowabobo in the men's lightweight judo contest and Itte Detenamo in the men's super-heavyweight weightlifting competition. Dowabobo qualified as one of Oceania's highest ranked judo competitors while Detenamo made the Games based on his qualifying performance. Detenamo was the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Dowabobo was eliminated by his opponent Navruz Jurakobilov in the round of 64 and Detemano was 14th in his event.
Nauru competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland from 23 July – 3 August 2014. Nauru's team consisted of ten athletes in four sports. Participating for the seventh time, Nauru, the smallest sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations, holds a "remarkable" record at the Commonwealth Games, having won twenty-eight medals during their first six participations, of which ten gold. Weightlifter Yukio Peter, Nauru's only gold medallist at the 2010 Games, did not defending his title in Glasgow, but Delhi weightlifting silver medallist Itte Detenamo was present.
Nauru competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation in Brazil was its sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Nauru's delegation included two participants: Ovini Uera, a judoka in the men's middleweight judo category; and Elson Brechtefeld in the men's 56 kg weightlifting competition. Uera qualified as Nauru's top-ranked judoka, in the IJF World Ranking List through a quota slot from the Oceania Judo Union. Brechtefeld qualified by grant from the International Weightlifting Federation of an unused quota place. Uera was eliminated by Varlam Liparteliani in the round of 16 and Brechtefeld finished 15th in his event.
Vinson Franco Detenamo is a Nauruan politician.
Nauru competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to April 15, 2018.
