Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. A total of three Vanuatuan athletes competed in two sports.

Moses Kamut Moses Kamut (born 7 July 1982) is a ni-Vanuatu sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 400 metres., beijing2008.cn, ret: 24 August 2008 He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Summer Olympics without ...

and

Elis Lapenmal Elis Lapenmal (born 6 September 1987 in Malakula) is a Ni-Vanuatu sprinter. Competing at the World Athletics Championships in 2007, Lapenmal ran the 100 metres in 13.10 seconds. She won a silver medal at the South Pacific Mini Games, and qualif ...

competed in, respectively, the men's and women's 100m sprints, and Priscilla Tommy competed in women's singles table tennis after being selected by the

IOC 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 ...

's Tripartite Commission. Tommy's appearance in particular was Vanuatu's debut into table tennis. Tommy was also the country's flagbearer during the opening ceremony. The Vanuatuan delegation to Beijing included the country's head of state and prime minister, but only included Elis Lapenmal; the other two athletes did not accompany the delegation and arrived in China at different times. None of the three Vanuatuan Olympians progressed past the first round in their events, and thus did not earn any medals.

Background

Vanuatu has participated in the Olympics since the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, South Korea; its Olympic committee (VASANOC) was founded a year earlier. Vanuatu's appearance at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, thus, marked its sixth appearance in the summer Olympics. Although Vanuatu's earlier Olympic appearances were primarily characterized by people participating in athletics (with the exception of 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 ...

, which included an archer), the 2008 Vanuatu team involved the country's debut in Olympic table tennis. Other Vanuatuans attempted Olympic qualification competitions in girl's beach volleyball, men's football, and taekwondo, but did not succeed. Vanuatu's delegation left for Beijing on August 4; the delegation encompassed one of the three Olympians, as well as coaches Denison Tari, Sun Hongyi, and Anolyn Lulu; VASANOC president Joe Carlo; and VASANOC secretary general Seru Korikalo. Vanuatuan dignitaries, including the head of state, prime minister, and the minister of sports, also accompanied the team to attend the opening ceremony on August 8. Table tennis player

Priscila Tommy Priscila Tommy (born 23 May 1991) is a ni-Vanuatu table tennis player. She won gold in both the women's singles and team events at the 2007 South Pacific Games. Tommy represented Vanuatu at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was her cou ...

and athlete

, the other two Vanuatuan qualifiers, did not accompany the Vanuatuan delegation to Beijing. Tommy arrived in China early for training, while Kamut spent time in Belgium. Of the participating Olympians, table tennis player Priscila Tommy was the youngest, at age 17. Moses Kamut, at age 26, was the oldest. Kamut and

participated in athletics, and Tommy participated as the team's only table tennis player. There were no medalists from Vanuatu during these Olympic Games. Priscila Tommy was Vanuatu's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.

Athletics

and

participated on behalf of Vanuatu in track and field, or athletics, events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kamut participated in the men's 100m sprint, and participated in the first round of the event on August 14. Kamut was placed in the first heat, and ran the event in 10.81 seconds. Within the first heat, Kamut placed 7th out of 8, beating Francis Manioru of the Solomon Islands by 0.28 seconds, but falling behind Jamaica's

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

by 0.61 seconds. Bolt ranked first in Kamut' heat. Overall, Moses Kamut ranked 61st out of 80 out of all the heats run on that day, and did not advance to the next round. Kamut received financial assistance through the Beijing Scholarship, which terminated after the Beijing Olympics ended. Elis Lapenmal was Vanuatu's sole participant in the women's 100m dash. She took part in the first round of the event on August 15, in which she was placed in heat three versus athletes that included the United States' Muna Lee; Saint Kitts and Nevis'

Virgil Hodge Virgil Hodge (born 17 November 1983) is a female sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis who specializes in the 200 metres. She was born in Basseterre.

; and Mauritania's Bounkou Camara. Lapenmal ran the 100m in 13.31 seconds, placing eighth in a heat of nine people, just ahead of Camara, who scored 13.69 seconds. Muna Lee scored first in Lapenmal's heat with a time of 11.33 seconds. Overall, Lapenmal tied Guam's

Cora Alicto Cora Alicto (Low) (born August 2, 1980) is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Guam.Marcelo Aguirre of Paraguay. She was the only Vanuatuan participant in Olympian table tennis during the 2008 Summer Olympics. During the preliminary rounds on August 17, Priscilla Tommy was paired with Eva Ódorová of Slovakia, who she faced on the thirteenth of fourteen matches that took place that day. Tommy lost to Ódorová with a 4–0 record, and did not advance to the August 20 matches.

References

{{Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics 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; ...

Summer Olympics 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 ...