Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

competed 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 ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. Palau's Olympic delegation was led by Frank Kyota, the President of the Palau National Olympic Committee, and consisted of five athletes, three team officials and four coaches. This was an increase from the nation's two previous appearances at the Summer Olympic Games; four athletes had been sent to both 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 ...

and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Games. Palau's Olympic team was one of the 117 that won no medals at the Games.

Opening & closing ceremonies

Palau was the 119th national team to enter the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

in the parade of nations during 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.

. The country's

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

was

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

Elgin Loren Elwais Elgin Loren Elwais (born March 5, 1985) is a Palauan wrestler. Elwais participated in his first Olympic Games at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Elwais stands out from past Palauan Olympians by being the first sportsperson from his co ...

, the first Palauan athlete to have qualified for a Games based on his own performances. At the

Closing 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.

athletes entered in a less formal style, led by the flag bearers of all the competing nations. The Palauan flag was carried by swimmer Amber Yobech.

Athletics

Palau had two competitors in the sport of athletics, one in each of the men's and women's 100 m sprints. Jesse Tamangrow finished seventh out of eight competitors in a heat which included eventual bronze medallist Walter Dix. Despite setting a new personal best time of 11.38 seconds he did not advance to the quarterfinals of the competition. In the women's event Peoria Koshiba finished eighth out of nine athletes in the first heat and did not advance to the next round. ;Men ;Women

Swimming

Amber Yobech, the youngest member of the team at age 17, was the sole Palauan representative in the swimming events. She finished 3rd in her heat and 71st out of the 92 competitors overall. ;Women Qualifiers for the latter rounds of all swimming events at the Games were decided on a time only basis between competitors from all heats, therefore the rank shown is an overall position against every swimmer in the round.

Wrestling

Two wrestlers represented Palau in Beijing. Both athletes received

byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body. Scoring byes Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...

in the first round but were defeated in their respective round of 16 matches. Elgin Loren Elwais, the reigning

Oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

champion, was beaten on points by three times world champion Hamid Soryan in the Greco-Roman 55 kg. After the bout he announced his hope of competing at the

2012 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 ...

, saying, "It is my first Olympics and I am looking forward to my next because I'm young." The other wrestler

Florian Skilang Temengil Florian Skilang Temengil (born November 4, 1986) is a Palauan wrestler at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. Skilang competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China in the freestyle wrestling. He lost his bout to Ottó Aubéli of Hu ...

was beaten by Hungarian Ottó Aubéli in the Freestyle 120 kg. ;Men's freestyle ;Men's Greco-Roman

Media coverage

The 2008 Summer Olympics marked the first time that Palauans were able to watch complete Olympic television coverage of all events in their own country. Palau's in-depth television coverage was due to a special agreement between

TV New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solom ...

and the

Palau National Communications Corporation Telephones Telephones - main lines in use: 7,300 (2012) Telephones - mobile cellular: 17,150 (2012) Telephone system: ''domestic:'' Palau National Communications Company ''international:'' satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean ...

References

{{good article Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Olymp