The Gambia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Template:Infobox Olympics Gambia
Gambia took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008.[1] It was Gambia's seventh appearance in the summer Olympics since its debut in 1984.[2] The Gambia team included three athletes; runners Suwaibou Sanneh and Fatou Tiyana as well as boxer Badou Jack.[3] Jack, a middleweight at his first Olympics,[4] was was selected as flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies.[5] None of the Gambia athletes progressed further than the qualifying heats.[6][7]
Background
Gambia had participated in six previous Summer Olympics, between its debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[2] At its debut, the country sent ten athletes to the games, all of whom competed in athletics.[8] As of 2012, 1984 remains the largest number of Gambian athletes participating in the summer games.[2] No Gambian has ever won a summer Olympics medal.[2] Three athletes from Gambia were selected to compete in the 2008 Olympics: Suwaibou Sanneh in the men's track and field 100 metres, Fatou Tiyana in the women's track and field 100 metres and Badou Jack in the men's middleweight boxing competition.[6][7]
Athletics
At the 2008 Olympics, Gambia was represented by one male athlete in athletics,[6] 100 metres sprinter Suwaibou Sanneh.[6] At age 17, Sanneh was the country's youngest competitor,[3] and was competing at his first Olympics.[9] He competed on the 15 August in Beijing,[10] and finished 5th out of 8 in heat eight.[10] His time of 10.52 seconds placed him 46th out of 80 competitors overall.[11] The fastest athlete was Tyrone Edgar (10.13 seconds) and the slowest athlete that progressed to the semi-finals was Uchenna Emedolu (10.46 seconds).[11] Youssouf, who was 0.06 seconds behind Emedolu, did not progress to the semi-finals.[11]
Competing at her first Olympics,[12] Fatou Tiyana was the only female competing in the track and field events at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Gambia.[3] She was selected in and competed in the 100 meters on the 19 August.[13] Tiyana was drawn into heat seven for the event.[13] She ran a time of 12.25 seconds and finished seventh in her heat, 0.92 seconds behind the winner, Ivet Lalova.[13] She finished 58th out of 85 athletes overall and was 2.55 seconds faster than the slowest athlete, Robina Muqimyar.[14] Tiyana was 1.12 seconds behind the fastest athlete (Oludamola Osayomi) and 0.60 seconds behind the slowest athlete who progressed to the semi-finals, Thi Huong Vu.[14] Therefore, Tiyana did not progress to the semi-finals.[14]
- Men
Athlete | Event | Heat | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | ||
Suwaibou Sanneh | 100 m | 10.52 | 5 | Did not advance |
- Women
Athlete | Event | Heat | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | ||
Fatou Tiyana | 100 m | 12.25 | 10 | Did not advance |
Boxing
Gambia's only boxer at the Beijing Olympics, Badou Jack, qualified in the middleweight class at the second African continental qualifying tournament.[15] Jack competed at age 24 and was Gambia's oldest competitor.[3] He was selected as the Gambian flag bearer for the ceremonies.[5] His first fight was against Indian Vijender Kumar.[16] Kumar won the fight 13-2 and Jack was eliminated from the competition.[17]
Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Opposition Result |
Rank | |||
Badou Jack | Middleweight | Kumar (IND) L 2–13 |
Did not advance |
References
- ^ "Countries Participating in Olympics". Sporting99.com. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Sports Reference - Countries - Gambia". Sports Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Sports Reference - Beijing 2008 - Gambia". Sports Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Sports Reference - Olympics - Athletes - Gambia - Badou Jack". Sports Reference. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ a b "List of flagbearers Bejing 2008" (PDF). olympic.org. 8 August 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Sports Reference - Beijing 2008 - Gambia - Athletics". Sports Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Sports Reference - Beijing 2008 - Gambia - Boxing". Sports Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Sports Reference - Los Angeles 1984 - Gambia". Sports Reference. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ "Sports Reference - Olympics - Athletes - Gambia - Suwaibou Sanneh". Sports Reference. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ a b "IAAF - Results - Olympic Games - 2008 - 100 metres - Men - Heats - Result". IAAF. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ a b c "IAAF - Results - Olympic Games - 2008 - 100 metres - Men - Heats - Summary". IAAF. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ "Sports Reference - Olympics - Athletes - Gambia - Fatou Tiyana". Sports Reference. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ a b c "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2008 – Women – 100 meters – Heats – Results". IAAF. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ a b c "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2008 – Women – 100 meters – Heats – Summary". IAAF. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ "Kenya, Ghana & Nigeria top qualifiers at 2nd AIBA Africa Olympic Qualifier". AIBA. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ "Olympic.org / Results / Beijing 2008 / Boxing / Men / 69-75 kilograms". Olympic.org. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ "Boxing Men's Middle (75kg) results". Beijing 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2014.