The Gambia at the 2016 Summer Olympics

The Gambia, officially the Republic of the Gambia, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which was held from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation at Rio marked its ninth appearance at the Summer Olympic Games since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes, Adama Jammeh and Gina Bass, who both qualified after meeting the qualification standards for their respective events, one judoka, Faye Njie, who made the Games through a quota place and one swimmer, Pap Jonga, who earned a universality place to enter the Games. The Gambia made their début appearances in the judo and swimming events. Bass was selected as the flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies. All four athletes were eliminated from the first rounds of their events.

The Gambia at the
2016 Summer Olympics
IOC codeGAM
NOCGambia National Olympic Committee
Websitewww.gnoc.gm
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors4 in 3 sports
Flag bearerGina Bass
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Background

The Gambia participated in nine Summer Olympic Games between its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[1] No Gambian athlete has ever won a medal at the Olympics and the country has not debuted at the Winter Olympic Games.[1] The Gambia participated in the Rio Olympic Games from 5 to 21 August 2016. The four athletes that were chosen to compete in the Rio Games were athletes Adama Jammeh and Gina Bass, judoka Faye Njie and swimmer Pap Jonga.[2] Three of the team's competitors trained at the Centro di Preparazione Olimpica di Formia after The Gambia's NOC secured funding for overseas training.[3] Along with the four athletes, the country's delegation consisted of the NOC development officer and team leader Alhagie Dodou Capi Joo, athletics coach Mariama Sallah Saine, and swimming coach Arfang Y. Jobe.[4] Bass was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies.[5][6]

Athletics (track and field)
Main articles: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification
The Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, where Jammeh and Bass competed in track and field events.

Adama Jammeh was the oldest competitor to represent The Gambia at the Olympic Games at age 23. He had not participated in any previous Summer Games.[2] Janneh qualified for the Games because his fastest time of 20.45 seconds, set at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics Men's 200 metres, was 0.05 seconds faster than the required qualifying standard for his event, the men's 200 metres.[2][7] In an interview with The Point before the Games he said, "I've competed at the World Athletics Championship in Beijing, China, and two African Championships and the Olympic Games will complete the set. I'm going to be so happy about it."[2] Jammeh was drawn in the seventh heat on 16 August, finishing fifth out of eight athletes, with a time of 20.55 seconds. Overall he finished 39th out of 75 participants overall,[lower-alpha 1] and did not progress to the semi-finals because he was 0.26 seconds slower than the slowest athlete in his heat who made the event's later stages.[8]

At the age of 21, Gina Bass was the only Gambian female competing in athletics and was making her début appearance in the quadrennial event.[5] She secured qualification to the Games because her time of 23.14 seconds, recorded at the Edmar Stade Lama in Remire-Montjoly in June 2016, exceeded the qualifying standard for her event, the women's 200 metres.[9] Bass was the first Gambian athlete to secure qualification for the Rio Olympics and the second in her country's history to achieve the feat.[5] Before the Games she said that she was "excited and focused for the road ahead" and did not think that she would take part in the Olympics while growing up.[10] Bass participated in the event's fifth heat on 15 August, finishing fifth out of eight runners, with a time of 23.43 seconds.[11]Overall she finished 52nd out of 72 athletes and was unable to advance to the semi-finals after being 0.66 seconds slower than the slowest participant in her heat who progressed to the next round.[11] After the Games Bass stated the lack of running she had beforehand was partially responsible for her finishing position.[12]

Key
  • Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Adama Jammeh Men's 200 m 20.55 5 Did not advance[8]
Gina Bass Women's 200 m 23.43 5 Did not advance[11]

Judo
Main articles: Judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification
The Arena Carioca 2, where Njie participated in judo

Faye Njie represented The Gambia in men's judo.[9] He gained qualification into the men's lightweight (73kg) judo competition by earning a continental quota place from the African region at the Rio Games during the 2016 African Judo Championships, signifying the country's first Olympic appearance in the sport.[9] Before his event Njie said that he was proud to represent his country and commented his opponent was "good" but not undefeatable.[13] He was narrowly defeated by his opponent Kazakhstan's Didar Khamza in a five-minute closely contested match on technical point.[14]

Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM
Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Opposition
Result		 Rank
Faye Njie Men's −73 kg  Khamza (KAZ)
L 000–002		 Did not advance[14]

Swimming
Main article: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics
The Olympic Aquatics Stadium, where Jonga took part in swimming events.

Pap Jonga was the youngest athlete to represent The Gambia at the Rio Games at age 19. He had not participated in any previous Olympic Games.[15] Jonga qualified for the Games by earning a universality place from swimming's governing body FINA because his fastest time of 27.24 seconds was 4.19 seconds slower than the required qualifying standard for his event, the men's 50 metre freestyle.[16][17] He became the first Gambian swimmer to qualify for an Olympic event.[15] He was drawn in the third heat on 11 August, finishing eighth (and last) of all competitors, with a time of 27.48 seconds.Overall Jonga finished 79th out of 85 swimmers overall,[lower-alpha 2] and did not progress to the semi-finals after he was 6.38 seconds slower than the slowest competitor who advanced to the later stages.[18]

Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Pap Jonga Men's 50 m freestyle 27.48 79 Did not advance[18]

See also

Notes
  1. Two other athletes did not start, and one was disqualified.[8]
  2. One swimmer, Erik Risolvato, did not start.[18]

References
  1. "Gambia". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  2. Trawally, Namory (26 July 2016). "RIO 2016: Profiles of Gambian Olympians". The Point. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  3. Palmer, Dan (30 July 2016). "GNOC send athletes to overseas training camps ahead of Rio 2016". Inside the Games. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  4. Trawally, Namory (3 August 2016). "Gambian delegation arrives at Rio Olympics Games". The Daily Observer. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. Sise, Musa (29 July 2016). "Gina Bass named as The Gambia's Rio 2016 flagbearer". AIPS Media. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. "Rio 2016 Closing Ceremony – Flag Bearers" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 21 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  7. "Qualification System and Entry Standards" (PDF). International Association of Athletic Federations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. "2016 Summer Olympics – Results – Athletics – Men's 200m". ESPN. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  9. Trawally, Namory (9 June 2016). "Athlete Gina Bass, Fye Njie qualify for Rio 2016 Olympic Games". The Point. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  10. "Gina Bass, new star of Gambia athletics". The Point. 26 July 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  11. "Olympics-Athletics-Women's 200m round 1 results". Reuters. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  12. Trawally, Namory (17 August 2016). "Gambian interest in Rio 2016 Olympics ends". The Daily Observer. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  13. Trawally, Namory (8 August 2016). "Gambia's Chase for Olympic Medal in Rio Kicks Off Today". The Point. AllAfrica. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  14. Trawally, Namory (10 August 2016). "Gambia's judoka Faye Alex Njie: Out but not down". The Point. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  15. Trawally, Namory (11 August 2016). "Gambia's swimming debut at Olympic Games today". The Point. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  16. Keith, Branden (16 January 2015). "Qualification Times Standards for 2016 Olympic Games Officially Announced". Swim Swam. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  17. "Men's 2016 Olympic Entry List" (PDF). FINA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  18. "2016 Summer Olympics – Results – Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle". ESPN. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
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