Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

. Haitian Olympic Committee (french: Comité Olympique Haïtien, COH) sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games since

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. A total of 10 athletes, 7 men and 3 women, were selected to the Haitian team across seven sports. Eight Haitian athletes were born and raised in the United States, having acquired a dual citizenship to represent their parents' homeland at these Games. Among them were taekwondo fighter

Aniya Louissaint Aniya Louissaint (born 9 September 1998) is a Haitian taekwondo athlete. She represented Haiti at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the women's 67 kg where she was defeated by Haby Niaré in the first round and by Ruth Gbagbi Ru ...

, 19-year-old light welterweight boxer

Richardson Hitchins Richardson Hitchins (born September 26, 1997) is an American professional boxer. As an amateur he represented Haiti at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he lost to Gary Antuanne Russell. Hitchins was born in Brooklyn to Haiti ...

, first female swimmer Naomy Grand'Pierre (born in Canada), female hurdler Mulern Jean, male hurdler

Jeffrey Julmis Jeffrey Michael Julmis (born September 30, 1987) is a Haitian sprinter. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, ...

, the lone returning athlete from London 2012, and freestyle wrestler Asnage Castelly, who eventually led the team as the oldest competitor (aged 38) and Haiti's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. While the American-born athletes shared their kinship ties with Haiti, freestyle swimmer Frantz Dorsainvil and weightlifter Edouard Joseph (men's 62 kg) were the nation's only homegrown Olympians on the team. Before Rio de Janeiro, Haitian athletes yielded a tally of two Olympic medals, a silver won by long jumper

Silvio Cator Sylvio or Silvio Paul Cator (October 19, 1900 – July 21, 1952) was a Haitian athlete most successful in the long jump. Biography Born in Cavaillon, Haiti, Cator was a footballer who played for the Trivoli Athletic Club and the Racing ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

, and a bronze by a team of five rifle shooters in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

. Haiti, however, did not win its first Olympic medal for nearly nine decades.

Athletics (track and field)

Haitian athletes achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): ;Track & road events

Boxing

Haiti entered one boxer to compete in the men's light welterweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament. Richardson Hitchins claimed an Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, Azerbaijan.

Judo

Haiti qualified one judoka for the men's lightweight category (73 kg) at the Games. Josue Deprez earned a continental quota spot from the Pan American region as the highest-ranked Haitian judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.

Swimming

Haiti received a Universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics, signifying the nation's return to the sport for the first time since

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Taekwondo

Haiti received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send Aniya Louissaint in the women's welterweight category (67 kg) into the Olympic taekwondo competition, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sport for the first time since

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Weightlifting

Haiti received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send Edouard Joseph in the men's featherweight category (62 kg) to the Olympics, signifying the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Wrestling

Haiti received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send a wrestler competing in the men's freestyle 74 kg to the Olympics, signifying the nation's debut in the sport. ;Men's freestyle

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Haiti, 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 trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in Haitian sport