Albania competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's seventh appearance at the Olympics since its debut in 1972. The National Olympic Committee of Albania sent a total of 11 athletes to the Games, seven men and four women, to compete in four sports. Weightlifter Hysen Pulaku was officially removed from the team on the first day, after failing a drug test for the banned

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone (medication), testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related ...

substance, as announced by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Albania, however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal. The Albanians competed in five sports with the same number of athletes like they did at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing in China. This time around they couldn't improve on their previous achievements as they didn't future their two Wrestlers in

Elis Guri Elis Guri (born 6 July 1983) is a Bulgarian Greco-Roman style wrestler of Albanian descent. He was the 2011 World Champion, a two-time bronze medalist of European championships, and a participant in three summer Olympic Games. Professional ca ...

and

Sahit Prizreni Sahit Prizreni (born 23 February 1983) is an Albanian-Australian former freestyle wrestler who is the current president of the Albanian Wrestling Federation from 6 December 2020. Career Albania He participated in Men's freestyle 60 kg at 200 ...

. Albania competed in

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

with World Judo Juniors Champion of

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and twice European Junior Champion of 2009 and 2010

Majlinda Kelmendi Majlinda Kelmendi (; born 9 May 1991) is a Kosovan-Albanian former judoka and judo coach. In 2014, Majlinda topped the IJF Women's Prestige World Ranking List. On 7 August 2016, she became the first Kosovan athlete to win a medal at the Olymp ...

, who made her debut at the Olympic games. She competed at the Women's 52 kg event. In the first round she defeated

Jaana Sundberg Jaana Jokinen (Sundberg) is a Finnish judoka who competes in the women's 52 kg category. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was defeated in the first round. She is married to the 2012 olympian Valtteri Jokinen Valtteri Jokinen is a Finnish ...

from Finland. Before losing in the round of 16 to Mauritian Judoka Legentil. In Weightlifting Albania initially competed with four athletes three men and one female.

Briken Calja Briken Calja (born 19 February 1990, Elbasan) is an Albanian weightlifter, Olympian, and European Champion competing in the 69 kg category until 2018 and 73 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganize ...

had the best result for Albania as he finished 6th in his debut for Albania lifting 320 kg in total.

Romela Begaj Romela Aleksandër Begaj (born 2 November 1986) is an Albanian weightlifter. On 11 November 2014 in Almaty she became world champion in the Snatch style for the category up to 63 kg. Previously Begaj represented Albania at the 2008 Europe ...

competed for the second time for Albania but this time she wasn't able to improve on her result from the previous olympics as she finished 9th in the end.

Athletics

Albania has qualified 1 female quota place, and selected 1 male athlete by wildcard. ;Track & road events ;Field events

Judo

Albania had not initially qualified a judoka, but due to the

's refusal to allow Kosovars of Albanian ethnicity to represent

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

or to compete as independent athletes,

represented Albania at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Shooting

Swimming

Albanian swimmers are invited. One men and female.

Weightlifting

Albania has qualified three men and one female quota places. On 28 July, the

announced that Hysen Pulaku had tested positive for stanozolol, a banned

, and consequently ejected him from the games.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Albania, Olympics Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2012 in Albanian sport