Maldives at the 2008 Summer Olympics

The Maldives competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The country's participation at the Beijing Olympics marked its seventh appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The delegation included four athletes, two in athletics (Ali Shareef and Aishath Reesha), and two in swimming (Ibrahim Shameel and Aminath Rouya Hussain) who participated in four distinct events. Its four athletes did not advance past the first round in each of their events. Aminath Rouya Hussain carried the Maldivian flag during the parade of nations of the opening ceremony with sprinter Ali Shareef being the flagbearer for the closing ceremony. The country failed to win an Olympic medal at these Games and has yet to win their first medal.

Maldives at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Maldives
IOC code	MDV
NOC	Maldives Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympic.mv
in Beijing, China 8 August 2008 (2008-08-08) – 24 August 2008 (2008-08-24)
Competitors	4 in 2 sports
Flag bearer (opening)	Aminath Rouya Hussain
Flag bearer (closing)	Ali Shareef
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Background

The Maldives is an archipelagic country located in Southern Asia, situated in the Indian Ocean. Formerly a protectorate of the United Kingdom, it gained independence in 1965. The Maldives Olympic Committee was formed in 1985, and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee the same year.^[1] The Maldives have participated in every Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The highest number of Maldivians participating at any single Summer Games was seven at the 1988 Games and the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain.^[2] No Maldivian has ever won a medal at the Olympics.^[3]

The 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 8 to 24 August 2008. For the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Maldives sent a delegation of four athletes. The Maldivian team at the 2008 Games featured two track and field athletes and two swimmers. Sprinters Ali Shareef and Aishath Reesha were chosen to compete in the men's 100 metres and women's 800 metres respectively. Swimmers Ibrahim Shameel and Aminath Rouya Hussain participated in the men's 50 metre freestyle and women's 50 metre freestyle respectively.^[4] Aminath Rouya Hussain was the only returning athlete from the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.^[5] She was also the flagbearer for the Maldives during the parade of nations of the opening ceremony with sprinter Ali Shareef being the flagbearer for the closing ceremony.^[6][7]

Athletics

Main articles: Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification

 

The Beijing National Stadium where Shareef and Reesha competed in track and field events.

The Maldives was represented by a male athlete and a female athlete in athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Ali Shareef and Aishath Reesha. At the age of 29, Ali Shareef was the country's oldest competitor, and was competing at his first Olympics. He competed on 15 August in Beijing, and finished 7th out of 8 in heat six. His time of 11.11 seconds placed him 69th out of 80 competitors overall. The fastest athlete was Tyrone Edgar finishing with a time of 10.13 seconds and the slowest athlete that progressed to the semi-finals was Uchenna Emedolu who finished with a time of 10.46 seconds. Shareef, who was 0.65 seconds behind Emedolu, did not progress to the semi-finals.^[8]

Competing at her first Olympics, Aishath Reesha was the only female competing in the track and field events at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Maldives.^[9] She competed in the 800 metres on 15 August. Reesha was drawn into heat five for the event.^[10] She ran a personal best time of 2 minutes and 30.14 seconds.^[11] She finished seventh and last in her heat, almost 30 seconds behind the winner, Zulia Calatayud. She finished last out of 39 athletes overall. Reesha was 31.23 seconds behind the fastest athlete Maria Mutola and 26.29 seconds behind the slowest athlete who progressed to the semi-finals, Élodie Guégan. Therefore, Reesha did not progress to the semi-finals.^[12]

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Ali Shareef	100 m	11.11 NR	7	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Aishath Reesha	800 m	2:30.14 PB	7	Did not advance

Swimming

Main articles: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification

 

The Beijing National Aquatics Centre where the swimming events took place.

Swimmer Ibrahim Shameel was the youngest athlete to participate in the Maldivian delegation at Beijing; he was sixteen years old at the time of his performance, and the only male swimmer in the delegation.^[13] Shameel has not previously appeared at any Olympic games.^[14] The preliminary round for the men's 50 meters freestyle, the event in which he participated, took place on August 15. Shameel was placed in the third heat. He completed his event in 29.28 seconds, taking seventh in the heat. Out of the 97 athletes who participated in the preliminary round, Shameel ranked 88th. He did not advance to later rounds.^[15]

Then 17-year-old Aminath Rouya Hussain participated on Maldives's behalf in the women's 50 meters freestyle. Her participation in Beijing marked her second Olympic appearance, as she had participated previously in women's 50 meters freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.^[16] She was the only female Maldivian swimmer participating in the Beijing games. During the August 15 preliminary round, Rouya participated in the fourth heat. She completed her event in 30.21 seconds, ranking seventh out of the eight athletes in the heat. Overall, Rouya ranked 72 out of the 90 athletes who participated in the event.^[a] She did not advance to later rounds.^[17]

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Ibrahim Shameel	50 m freestyle	29.28	88	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Aminath Rouya Hussain	50 m freestyle	30.21	72	Did not advance

See also

• List of Maldivian records in athletics
• Maldives at the Olympics

Notes

1. Two swimmers, Miroslava Najdanovski and Bayan Jumah, did not start.^[17]

References

1. "OCA » Maldives". Olympic Council of Asia. from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
2. "Olympic History of Maldives". Olympedia. from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
3. "Olympic Games: results, medals, statistics, analytics". Olympic Analytics. from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
4. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
5. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
6. (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
7. (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
8. . ESPN. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
9. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
10. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
11. "Aishath REESHA | Profile | World Athletics". World Athletics. from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
12. . ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
13. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
14. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
15. . ESPN. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
16. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
17. . ESPN. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2023.