The Cook Islands sent a delegation to compete at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, Spain from 25 July to 9 August 1992. This was the island nation's second appearance at a Summer Olympics, following 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 ...

. The delegation to Barcelona consisted of two competitors, track and field athlete Mark Sherwin and weightlifter

Sam Nunuke Pera Sam Nunuke Pera (born 4 April 1969 in Rarotonga) is a retired Cook Islands weightlifter. He represented the Cook Islands in three editions of the Olympic Games (1992, 1996, and 2004), and has been named the nation's sportsman of the year five ...

. Sherwin failed to advance out of his heat in the men's 100 meters, while Pera did not complete a lift in the men's 100 kilograms category.

Background

The

Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC) (IOC code: COK) is the governing body for sports in Cook Islands and its National Olympic Committee. Originally founded in 1943 as the Rarotonga Sports Association, the organisation bec ...

was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1986. The nation made its first Olympic appearance at the

, and have sent a delegation to every

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 ...

since. Barcelona was therefore their second time competing in the Summer Olympics, and they have never participated in a Winter Olympic Games. As of 2018 the Cook Islands have never won a medal at the Olympics. The 1992 Summer Olympics were held from 25 July to 9 August; a total of 9,356 athletes represented 169 National Olympic Committees. The Cook Islands' delegation to Barcelona consisted of two competitors, track and field athlete Mark Sherwin and weightlifter

. Pera was the flagbearer for 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.

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

Athletics

Mark Sherwin was 22 years old at the time of the Barcelona Olympics, and was making his Olympic debut. On 31 July, in the first round of the men's 100 meters, Sherwin was drawn into heat five. He finished his heat in 11.53 seconds, eighth and last place in the heat; only the top three from each heat and the next two fastest among all ten heats were able to advance, and he was eliminated. The slowest qualifier in his heat was

John Myles-Mills John Myles-Mills (born April 19, 1966) is a retired Ghanaian athlete who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres. He represented Ghana at the Olympics in 1988 and 1992, being the List of flag bearers for Ghana at the Olympics, country's flag ...

of Ghana who posted a time of 10.64 seconds. The gold medal for the event was won by Linford Christie of Great Britain in a time of 9.96 seconds.

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...

of Namibia took the silver, and Dennis Mitchell of the United States won the bronze. Sherwin would come back four years later to race the 100 meters again in Atlanta; while his time was faster, he was once again eliminated in the heats. *Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only

Weightlifting

was 23 years old at the time of the Barcelona Olympics, and was making his first Olympic appearance. On 2 August, he took part in the 100 kg and under body weight event. Pera weighed in at 92.6 kg. In his three attempts at the snatch, he failed to lift 105 kilograms, the lightest lift attempted by any of the 25 competitors. By failing to post a mark in the snatch, he was eliminated from the competition before he could compete in the clean and jerk. The gold medal eventually went to Viktor Tregubov of the Unified Team, who posted a lift from the snatch of 190 kg and the

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

mark of 220 kg; making his combined total 410 kg. Silver was won by

Tymur Taimazov Tymur Taymazov (Russian/ ua, Тимур Таймазов, os, Таймазты Барисы фырт Тимур, born 8 September 1970) is a former Ossetian-Ukrainian weightlifter, Olympic champion and two time World Champion. He was born in No ...

, also of the Unified Team, and bronze was taken by Waldemar Malak of Poland. Pera would return to represent the Cook Islands again 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, ...

where he finished 24th; and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in which he ranked 14th in his category. Between late 1996 and 2002 he was forced to abandon the sport due to losing his job.

References

{{NOCin1992SummerOlympics Nations at the 1992 Summer Olympics

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1992 in Cook Islands sport