Aruba competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

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 ...

, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's eighth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics. Aruban Olympic Committee sent the nation's largest team to the Games 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. A total of seven athletes, three men and four women, were selected to compete in four different sports (judo, sailing, swimming, and taekwondo). Five of them made their Olympic debut at these Games, with Laser Radial sailor Philipine van Aanholt, who previously represented as a member of the Independent Olympic Athletes, and judoka Jayme Mata returning for their second appearance from London 2012. 2010 Youth Olympian

Nicole van der Velden Nicole van der Velden (born 26 October 1994 in Madrid) is a Spanish- Aruban sailor. She was born Aruban, but received the Spanish nationality by the Spanish government in 2019. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Nacra 17 race with ...

served as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Aruba, however, has never won a single Olympic medal.

Judo

Aruba has qualified one judoka for the men's half-lightweight category (66 kg) at the Games. London 2012 Olympian Jayme Mata earned a continental quota spot from the Pan American region, as the highest-ranked Aruban judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.

Sailing

Aruban

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

have qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the individual fleet World Championships and the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

, signifying the nation's return to the sport after a 24-year hiatus. M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race

Swimming

Aruba has received a Universality invitation 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 ...

to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics.

Taekwondo

Aruba entered one athlete into the

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

competition for the first time at the Olympics. Monica Pimentel secured a spot in the women's flyweight category (49 kg) by virtue of her top two finish at the 2016 Pan American Qualification Tournament in Aguascalientes,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Aruba, 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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...