Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

competed at 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. The country's participation in Sydney marked its sixth appearance at a

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 ...

since its debut at the 1964 Games. The delegation included three male athletes;

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

runner Adel Edeli, judoka

Tarek Ayad Tarek Ayad ( ar, طارق فؤاد محمد كامل عياد; born 29 May 1984) is an Egyptian foil fencer, African champion in 2010. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the individual event, but was defeated in the table of 32 by Russ ...

and Nizar Mohamed Naeeli in taekwondo. Edeli did not finish his race, while Ayad and Naeeli were both eliminated in the first bouts of their respective tournaments.

Background

Libya participated in six

between its debut at the 1964 Games in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Mexico, and the

, Australia. It has competed at the Olympics on an intermittent basis since its debut, with a 12-year gap taking place before it returned at the 1980 Games in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Soviet Union, and then not attending the following games in 1984. It had boycotted the

1976 Summer Olympics 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 Phi ...

because of the inclusion of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

team at the Games despite the

breach Breach, Breached, or The Breach may refer to: Places * Breach, Kent, United Kingdom * Breach, West Sussex, United Kingdom * ''The Breach'', Great South Bay in the State of New York People * Breach (DJ), an Electronic/House music act * Miroslava ...

of the international sports boycott of South Africa by the nation's rugby union team shortly prior. It also boycotted the 1984 Games, following the rejection of visas to three Libyan journalists by the United States. The highest number of Libyans at any one Summer Olympics was 29 at the 1980 Moscow Games. There were three male athletes in the Libyan team for the 2000 Summer Olympics, one in athletics, one in judo and one in taekwondo. The nation had been represented by judokas previously at the 1992 Games, but it was the first time that a Libyan had competed in taekwondo at the Summer Olympics which became an official Olympic sport at the 2000 Games.

Athletics

Adel Edeli was the only competitor in athletics for Libya at the 2000 Summer Olympics; he took part in the men's marathon on 1 October. In a field of 100 runners, 19 did not complete the race including Edeli. The medals were shared between athletes from African nations with the gold and bronze going to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

's Gezahgne Abera (two hours, ten minutes and 11 seconds) and

Tesfaye Tola Tesfaye Tola (born 19 October 1974) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, most known for winning a bronze medal in marathon at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as ...

(two hours, 11 minutes and ten seconds) respectively, and the silver won by

Eric Wainaina The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

(two hours, ten minutes and 31 seconds). ;Road & track

Judo

Libya's sole judoka at the 2000 Games was

, who had previously won a bronze medal at the 1998 African Judo Championships in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal. He competed at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17 September, He was defeated by Japan's

Yukimasa Nakamura is a Japanese judoka, Olympic medalist and world champion. His older brother, Yoshio Nakamura and younger brother, Kenzo Nakamura are also former world champions. He is from Fukuoka, Fukuoka. After graduation from Tokai Univers ...

in the first round of the tournament, after Nakamura scored an ippon to automatically win the bout and eliminate Ayad. ;Judo

Taekwondo

The only athlete competing in taekwondo for Libya at the 2000 Summer Olympics was Nizar Mohamed Naeeli, who also acted as the nation's flagbearer during the Parade of Nations during the

2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the ''Bird's Nest''. It began at 20:00 China Standard Time ( UTC+08:00) on Friday, 8 August 2008, as the number 8 is considered to be auspicious. ...

. At the State Sports Centre on 28 September, Naeeli fought

Aslanbek Dzitiyev Aslanbek Dzitiyev (born 27 August 1982) is a Russian taekwondo practitioner. He competed in the men's 68 kg event at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, losing by points, thereby being eliminated from the tournament. ;Taekwondo

Notes

References

* {{Nations at the 2000 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...