The Marshall Islands has competed in four summer Olympiads. It has yet to compete at a Winter Olympic Games. The Marshall Islands Olympic debut was at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.[1] The highest number of Marshallese athletes participating in a Summer Games is five in the 2008 games in Beijing. No athlete from the Marshall Islands has ever won a medal at the Olympics.
| Marshall Islands at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | MHL |
| NOC | Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| Medals |
|
| Summer appearances | |
Background edit
The Marshall Islands are a Micronesian island nation, located in the western Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. As of 2008 the island had a population of approximately 60,000. The island nation was controlled by the United States, and prior to that by Japan and Germany at different times in its history, until gaining its sovereignty. In 1979, the Government of the Marshall Islands was officially established and the country became self-governing. In 1986 the Compact of Free Association with the United States entered into force, granting the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) its sovereignty. The island nation is made up of twenty-nine atolls and five single islands.[2][3]
The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee was created in 2001, and gained recognition by the International Olympic Committee at their meeting in 2006. The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee brought the total number of NOC's to 203 at the time of their admittance.[4][5][6]
Olympic overview edit
2008 Summer Olympics edit
The Marshall Islands debuted at the 2008 Summer Olympic in Beijing, China, with five athletes competing in three sports. Roman William Cress and Haley Nemra represented the nation in the track and field events. Jared Heine and Julianne Kirchner competed in the swimming events. Anju Jason, who competed in taekwondo at the Games, is the only Marshallese athlete to have competed in taekwondo at the Olympics as of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[7] Bar Jason, who defeated a competitor from Samoa at the qualification tournament in New Caledonia, all were wildcard entries, having failed to meet the qualification criteria for their respective events.[8][9]
Both Cress and Nemra failed to advance from their track and field heats:[10] Cress finished eighth out of the nine athletes in his men's 100m heat with a time of 11.12 seconds,[11] while Nemra finished seventh out of the eight athletes in her women's 800m heat in 2:18.83.[12] Neither Heine or Kirchner managed to advance from their respective heats: Heine finished third in his men's 100m backstroke heat in a time of 58.86, placing forty-third in the standings;[13] meanwhile Kirchner finished fourth in her women's 50 meter freestyle heat in a time of 30.42, placing seventy-fifth in the standings.[14] Anju Jason competed in the men's welterweight division, where he was one of six athletes eliminated in tier eleven.[15]
2012 Summer Olympics edit
The Marshall Islands sent four athletes to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Timi Garstang and Haley Nemra competed in the track and field events and Giordan Harris and Ann-Marie Hepler represented the nation in swimming at the Games. Before competing in the 2012 Summer Games, the Marshallese delegation attended a training camp in Australia for a month.[16][17]
2016 Summer Olympics edit
Five athletes from the Marshall Islands took part in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Richson Simeon and Mariana Cress represented the nation in the track and field events. Giordan Harris and Colleen Furgeson competed in the swimming events. Mathlynn Sasser, who took part in weightlifting at the Games, was the first (and, as of the 2016 Games, only) Marshallese athlete to compete in weightlifting at the Olympics.[18][16][19]
Medal tables edit
Medals by Summer Games edit
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Beijing | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2012 London | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2020 Tokyo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2024 Paris | future event | |||||
| 2028 Los Angeles | ||||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | |
Flagbearers edit
| Games | Athlete | Sport |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 Beijing | Waylon Muller | Judo[20] |
| 2012 London | Haley Nemra | Athletics[20] |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | Mathlynn Sasser | Weightlifting[21] |
| 2020 Tokyo | Colleen Furgeson Phillip Kinono |
Swimming |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "2008 Beijing Summer Olympics | Marshall Islands , Country Profile, Olympic Tradition | Outlook, Medal Count | NBC Olympics". 2008-08-24. Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "2008 Summer Olympics Country Profile". NBC Olympics. NBCOlympics.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Marshall Islands Ready to Join Olympics". SF Gate. 2008-10-01. Archived from the original on 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Marshall Islands – National Olympic Committee (NOC)". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
- ^ "2008 Beijing Summer Olympics | Marshall Islands , Country Profile, Olympic Tradition | Outlook, Medal Count | NBC Olympics". 2008-08-24. Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ^ "About MINOC – Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee – SportsTG". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 2018-03-10. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ^ "Marshall Islands at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 2016-03-04. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ Longman, Jeré (2008-08-05). "For the Marshall Islands, a Debut on a World Stage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
- ^ "Panda Express' Anju Jason Qualifies for Beijing Olympics". Panda Express. 2008-07-17. Archived from the original on 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ "Olympic Games 2008 - Startlist 100 Metres M Heats". IAAF Athletics. 2008-09-04. Archived from the original on 2008-09-04. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports-Reference. 2016-03-05. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
- ^ "Athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Women's 800 metres". Sports-Reference. 2015-11-16. Archived from the original on 2015-11-16. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
- ^ "Swimming at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Backstroke Round One". 2015-11-24. Archived from the original on 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
- ^ "Swimming at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Women's 50 metres Freestyle Round One". 2016-02-23. Archived from the original on 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
- ^ "Anju Jason Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports-Reference. 2016-03-03. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
- ^ a b "Marshall Islands at the 2012 London Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 2016-03-05. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
- ^ "Marshall Islands athletes train in Australia for Olympics | Pacific Beat | ABC Radio Australia". 2014-04-05. Archived from the original on 2014-04-05. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Sportsencyclo. "Marshallese athletes in the Beijing 2008 Olympics". www.olympiandatabase.com. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
- ^ Sportsencyclo. "Marshallese athletes in the Rio 2016 Olympics". www.olympiandatabase.com. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
- ^ a b "Olympic History of Marshall Islands". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
- ^ "The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony". International Olympic Committee. 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
External links edit
- "Marshall Islands". International Olympic Committee. 27 July 2021.
- "Marshall Islands". Olympedia.com.
- "Olympic Analytics/MHL". olympanalyt.com.