Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation made its debut in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, Nigerien athletes had participated in every edition of the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, except for two rare occasions, the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

in Montreal, and the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in Moscow because of the African and the US-led boycotts, respectively. Nigerien Olympic and National Sports Committee (french: Comité Olympique et Sportif National du Niger, COSNI) sent a team of six athletes, four men and two women, to compete in four different sports at the Olympics, matching the nation's roster size with

London 2012 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 ...

. This was also the youngest delegation in Niger's Olympic history, with about half the team under the age of 25, and many of the team members were expected to reach their peak in time for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo. All of the Nigerien athletes made their Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, with six-foot-nine taekwondo fighter

Abdoul Razak Issoufou Abdoul Razak Issoufou Alfaga (born 26 December 1994), also known as Razak Alfaga, is a Nigerien taekwondo athlete. When Issoufou was 7, his father forbade him from taking taekwondo after a cousin died from an injury in a fight. After Issoufou m ...

leading the team as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Niger left Rio de Janeiro with its first ever Olympic medal of any color since the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in Munich. It was awarded to Issoufou in the men's heavyweight category (+80 kg).

Medalists

Athletics

Niger has received universality slots from

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

to send two athletes (one male and one female) to the Olympics. ;Track & road events

Judo

Niger has qualified one judoka for the men's lightweight category (73 kg) at the Games. Ahmed Goumar earned a continental quota spot from the African region as Niger's top-ranked judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.

Swimming

Niger has received a Universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics.

Taekwondo

Niger entered one athlete into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. Abdoul Razak Issoufou secured a spot in the men's heavyweight category (+80 kg) by virtue of his top two finish at the 2016 African Qualification Tournament in Agadir,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Niger, Summer Olympics Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...