Comoros at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Background

Comoros participated in five Summer Olympic Games between its début at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. The highest number of athletes sent by Comoros to a summer Games is four to the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. No Comorian athlete has ever won a medal at the Olympics. Comoros participated in the Summer Olympics from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The Comorian National Olympic Committee (NOC) selected two athletes via wildcards. Usually, an NOC would be able to enter up to three qualified athletes in each individual event as long as each athlete met the "A" standard, or one athlete per event if they met the "B" standard. However, since Comoros had no athletes that met either standard, they were allowed to select two athletes, one of each gender, as wildcards.

The three athletes that were selected to compete in the London Games were Maoulida Darouèche in the men's 400 metres hurdles and Feta Ahamada in the women's 100 metres. Swimmer Ayouba Ali Sihame qualified for the Games via a universality place awarded by FINA for the women's 100 metre freestyle as her best time of one minute and 21.54 seconds was not within the standard entry time. Ahamada was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony and Darouèche held it for the closing ceremony.

Athletics

Maoulida Darouèche was the only male athlete representing Comoros at the London Olympics. He had not previously competed in any Olympic Games, but was notable for being his country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He qualified for the Olympics via a wildcard as his best time, 51.93 seconds, set at the 2011 Chambéry Meeting National, was 3.13 seconds slower than the "B" qualifying standard for his event, the 400 metres hurdles. Darouéche competed in the men's 400 metres hurdles on 3 August in the fourth heat of the first round, finishing ninth (and last) out of all competitors with a time of 53.49 seconds in a heat led by Javier Culson of Puerto Rico (48.33 seconds). Overall he finished 46th (and last) out of all entered athletes, and was 4.31 seconds slower than the slowest competitor that progressed to the semi-final stage and, therefore, that was the end of his competition.

Competing at her second Olympic Games, Feta Ahamada was notable for carrying the flag of Comoros at the closing ceremony. She was the oldest person to compete for Comoros at the Games, aged 25. She qualified for the Olympics via a wildcard as her best time, 12.29 seconds set at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, was 0.91 seconds slower than the "B" qualifying standard for her event, the women's 100 metres. Ahamada said the London Games would be an opportunity to allow her to improve her performance and record better times. She took part in the preliminary round of the women's 100 metres and was drawn in the first heat. Ahamada finished first with a time of 11.81 seconds, ahead of Dana Abdul Razak of Iraq (11.91 seconds) and Togo's Bamab Napo (12.24 seconds). It allowed her to qualify for the heats stage. In the heats, held on the same day as the preliminary round, Ahamada finished seventh out of eight athletes in heat four with a time of 11.86 seconds. She ranked ahead of Lorène Bazolo from Congo (11.90 seconds) and was 0.93 seconds behind heat winner Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria (10.93 seconds). Ahamada finished 50th out of 78 athletes overall, and did not progress in the semi-finals because she was 0.58 seconds slower than the slowest competitor who advanced to the later rounds.

Swimming

Ayouba Ali Sihame was the youngest competitor to be selected by Comoros at the London Games, aged 17. She qualified after receiving a universality place by FINA as her best time of one minute and 21.54 seconds was not within the standard entry time. Sihame was drawn in the first heat of the women's 100 metre freestyle, which was held on 1 August, finishing third (and last) in her heat with a time of one minute and 14.40 seconds. She finished behind the heat winner Mareme Faye from Senegal (one minute and 6.42 seconds) and second-placed swimmer Shreya Dhital of Nepal (one minute and 10.80 seconds). Sihame finished 48 (and last) of all swimmers who competed, and did not advance to the later stages of the women's 100 metre freestyle.