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The Gambia at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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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 selected as flag bearer for both the opening[5] and closing ceremonies.[6] None of the Gambia athletes progressed further than the qualifying heats.[7][8]

The Gambia at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Gambia
IOC codeGAM
NOCGambia National Olympic Committee
Websitewww.gnoc.gm
in Beijing
Competitors3 in 2 sports
Flag bearer Badou Jack
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Background

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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.[9] As of 2012, 10 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.[7][8]

Athletics

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The Beijing National Stadium, where Sanneh and Tiyana competed in track and field events.
Main article: Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

At the 2008 Olympics, Gambia was represented by one male athlete in athletics,[7] 100 metres sprinter Suwaibou Sanneh.[7] At age 17, Sanneh was the country's youngest competitor,[3] and was competing at his first Olympics.[10] He competed on 15 August in Beijing,[11] and finished 5th out of 8 in heat eight.[11] His time of 10.52 seconds placed him 46th out of 80 competitors overall.[12] 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).[12] Youssouf, who was 0.06 seconds behind Emedolu, did not progress to the semi-finals.[12]

Competing at her first Olympics,[13] Fatou Tiyana was the only female competing in the track and field events at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Gambia.[3] She competed in the 100 meters on 19 August.[14] Tiyana was drawn into heat seven for the event.[14] She ran a personal best time of 12.25 seconds and finished seventh in her heat, 0.92 seconds behind the winner, Ivet Lalova.[14] She finished 58th out of 85 athletes overall and was 2.55 seconds faster than the slowest athlete, Robina Muqimyar.[15] 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.[15] Therefore, Tiyana did not progress to the semi-finals.[15]

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 7 Did not advance

Boxing

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The Workers Indoor Arena, where Jack competed in his boxing bout.
Main article: Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Gambia's only boxer at the Beijing Olympics, Badou Jack, qualified in the middleweight class at the second African continental qualifying tournament.[16] Jack competed at age 24 and was Gambia's oldest competitor.[3] He was selected as the Gambian flag bearer for the opening ceremony.[5] His first fight was against Indian Vijender Singh.[17] Kumar won the fight 13-2 and Jack was eliminated from the competition.[18]


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   Singh (IND)
L 2–13 		Did not advance

References

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  1. ^ "Countries Participating in Olympics". Sporting99.com. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sports Reference – Countries – Gambia". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sports Reference – Beijing 2008 – Gambia". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Sports Reference – Olympics – Athletes – Gambia – Badou Jack". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  5. ^ a b "List of flagbearers Bejing [sic] 2008" (PDF). olympic.org. 8 August 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  6. ^ "List of flagbearers Bejing [sic] 2008 - Closing Ceremony" (PDF). olympic.org. 11 September 2009. p. 1. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d "Sports Reference – Beijing 2008 – Gambia – Athletics". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Sports Reference – Beijing 2008 – Gambia – Boxing". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Sports Reference – Los Angeles 1984 – Gambia". Sports Reference. Retrieved 10 November 2014.[dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Sports Reference – Olympics – Athletes – Gambia – Suwaibou Sanneh". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  11. ^ a b "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2008 – 100 metres – Men – Heats – Result". IAAF. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  12. ^ a b c "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2008 – 100 metres – Men – Heats – Summary". IAAF. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  13. ^ "Sports Reference – Olympics – Athletes – Gambia – Fatou Tiyana". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  14. ^ a b c "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2008 – Women – 100 meters – Heats – Results". IAAF. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  15. ^ a b c "IAAF – Results – Olympic Games – 2008 – Women – 100 meters – Heats – Summary". IAAF. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Kenya, Ghana & Nigeria top qualifiers at 2nd AIBA Africa Olympic Qualifier". AIBA. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Olympic.org / Results / Beijing 2008 / Boxing / Men / 69–75 kilograms". Olympic.org. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Boxing Men's Middle (75kg) results". Beijing 2008. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
 
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