Marien Michel Ngouabi (born 3 June 1980) is a Congolese former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Ngouabi represented the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, where he became the nation's flag bearer in the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. He is also the grandson of

Marien Ngouabi Marien Ngouabi (or N'Gouabi) (December 31, 1938 – March 18, 1977) was the third President of the Republic of the Congo from January 1, 1969, to March 18, 1977. Biography Origins Marien Ngouabi was born in 1938 at the village of Ombellé, Cu ...

, the former president of the Republic of the Congo. Ngouabi competed only in the men's 100 m freestyle at the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He received a Universality place from

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

, in an entry time of 59.50. He challenged six other swimmers in heat two, including 15-year-olds Ragi Edde of Lebanon and Dawood Youssef of Bahrain. He pulled himself farther from the top field to a sixth seed in 1:00.39, almost a full second below his entry standard and 6.84 seconds behind leader Gregory Arkhurst of Côte d'Ivoire. Ngouabi failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed sixty-eighth overall in the prelims. Ngouabi currently runs a small-scale company named ''Rosewood'' in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

, specialized in

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wood pro ...

and furniture manufacturing.

References

1980 births Living people Republic of the Congo male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Republic of the Congo Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Havana {{RCongo-swimming-bio-stub