IOC code GAM Competitors 3 in 2 sports | Website www.gnoc.gm Flag bearer Badou Jack | |
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NOC Gambia National Olympic Committee Medals Gold
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Gambia took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. It was Gambia's seventh appearance in the summer Olympics since its debut in 1984. The Gambia team included three athletes; runners Suwaibou Sanneh and Fatou Tiyana as well as boxer Badou Jack. Jack, a middleweight at his first Olympics, was selected as flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. None of the Gambia athletes progressed further than the qualifying heats.
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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. At its debut, the country sent ten athletes to the games, all of whom competed in athletics. As of 2012, 10 remains the largest number of Gambian athletes participating in the summer games. No Gambian has ever won a summer Olympics medal. 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.
Athletics
At the 2008 Olympics, Gambia was represented by one male athlete in athletics, 100 metres sprinter Suwaibou Sanneh. At age 17, Sanneh was the country's youngest competitor, and was competing at his first Olympics. He competed on 15 August in Beijing, and finished 5th out of 8 in heat eight. His time of 10.52 seconds placed him 46th out of 80 competitors overall. 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). Youssouf, who was 0.06 seconds behind Emedolu, did not progress to the semi-finals.
Competing at her first Olympics, Fatou Tiyana was the only female competing in the track and field events at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Gambia. She competed in the 100 meters on 19 August. Tiyana was drawn into heat seven for the event. She ran a personal best time of 12.25 seconds and finished seventh in her heat, 0.92 seconds behind the winner, Ivet Lalova. She finished 58th out of 85 athletes overall and was 2.55 seconds faster than the slowest athlete, Robina Muqimyar. 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. Therefore, Tiyana did not progress to the semi-finals.
Boxing
Gambia's only boxer at the Beijing Olympics, Badou Jack, qualified in the middleweight class at the second African continental qualifying tournament. Jack competed at age 24 and was Gambia's oldest competitor. He was selected as the Gambian flag bearer for the opening ceremony. His first fight was against Indian Vijender Singh. Kumar won the fight 13-2 and Jack was eliminated from the competition.