Cape Verde competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

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. Their participation marked their fourth Olympic appearance. Two Cape Verdeans competed in the Olympic games:

Nelson Cruz Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez Jr. (born July 1, 1980) is a Dominican-American professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas ...

participated as a marathon runner, and

Wania Monteiro Wania Monteiro (born 9 August 1986) is a Cape Verdean rhythmic gymnast. Biography Born 9 August 1986 in Santa Catarina, Santiago, she lived in Praia for a while. She is trained by Elena Atmacheva. ''Time'' noted that she often trained "in a dil ...

participated in gymnastics. Another athlete,

Lenira Santos Lenira Santos (born 21 April 1987) is a Cape Verdean sprinter. Santos was due to compete in the Women's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics but later pulled out due to injury. Santos also competed in the 200 and 400 metre events at the 200 ...

, was selected to compete in athletics but was forced to pull out due to injury. Monteiro was selected as the flag bearer for both the

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and closing ceremonies. Neither of the Cape Verdeans progressed beyond the first round.

Background

Cape Verde had participated in three previous Summer Olympics, between its debut in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

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, United States and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. At their debut, the country sent three athletes to the games, all in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

. The most number of Cape Verde athletes participating in a summer games, is three in 1996, 2004 and

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. No Cape Verde athlete has ever progressed out of the first round. Two athletes from Cape Verde were selected to compete in the 2008 games;

in the men's marathon and

in the women's all-round gymnastics.

Athletics

Cape Verde was represented by one athlete at the 2008 Olympics in athletics. This person was Nelson Cruz a marathon runner. It was Cruz's Olympic debut but he had competed in two IAAF World Championships, in 2005 and in 2007. He competed on the 24 August in Beijing, and finished 48th out of 95 in a time of 2hours, 23minutes and 47seconds, more than 17minutes behind the winner,

Samuel Kamau Wanjiru Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...

Gymnastics

Rhythmic

In the sport of rhythmic gymnastics, Cape Verde was represented by Wania Monteiro, who competed in the individual all-round. The Beijing Olympics was Monteiro second Olympic Games after competing in the individual all-round in 2004. In 2008 Montero finished last in the qualifying round, with a score of 49.050points.

Notes

References

External links

Cape Verde's NOC
official website of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games {{good article Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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Olympics