Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

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 ...

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 b ...

, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, Liechtensteinian athletes have appeared in every edition of the

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 ...

, except for two occasions. Liechtenstein did not register any athletes at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in Melbourne, and eventually joined the United States-led boycott when Moscow hosted the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. The 2016 delegation included two swimmers, Christoph Meier and Julia Hassler, and tennis player Stephanie Vogt. Two of the athletes debuted in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, with long-distance freestyle swimmer Julia Hassler leading the squad as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Liechtenstein has yet to win a Summer Olympic medal.

Background

Liechtenstein participated in seventeen

between its debut in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in

, Brazil. The highest number of Liechtensteiners participating at any one Summer Games was 12 in 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 ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. No Liechtensteiner has ever won a medal at the Summer Olympics. However, Liechtenstein has won nine medals at the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

. All of the Liechtensteiner participants competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics through invitations by FINA or the ITF. Hassler was chosen to be Liechtenstein's flag bearer during the Parade of Nations of the opening ceremony while Meier bore the flag during the closing ceremony.

Swimming

Liechtenstein received a universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics. Christoph Meier made his Olympic debut by competing in the men's 400 m individual medley event while

Julia Hassler Julia Hassler (born 27 February 1993) is an Olympic and national-record holding swimmer from Liechtenstein. She swam for and was Liechtenstein closing-ceremony flagbearer at the 2012 Olympics. She has also swam for Liechtenstein at several other ...

made her second appearance, with the first being in London 2012. At the

, she was one of three athletes to compete for

. She swam the

400 __NOTOC__ Year 400 ( CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year 11 ...

and 800 freestyles, finishing twenty-seventh in the 400 and 17th in the 800. Meier finished eighth in his heat and twenty-second overall with a time of 4:19.19 seconds, which set a national record but did not qualify him for the finals. Hassler started in the second lane. She came second in her heat and twenty-first overall with a time of 8:38.19 seconds. Hassler was eight seconds off the slowest qualifying time of 8:25.55 seconds by

Mireia Belmonte ] Mireia Belmonte García (born 10 November 1990) is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200-metre butterfly and 400-metre individual medley. Formerl ...

of Spain at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Spain.

Tennis

Liechtenstein received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send London 2012 Olympian Stephanie Vogt (world no. 274) in the women's singles for her second time into the Olympic tennis tournament. In the round of 64, Vogt lost both sets, losing the first 3–6 and the second 1–6 against Johanna Konta of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Konta reached the quarterfinals after she beat

Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...

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 ...

in the third round, but was knocked out in the last eight by Angelique Kerber of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Following the loss, Vogt announced that she would pause her tennis career and enroll in the

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology are two institutes of higher education in Switzerland (part of the ETH Domain): * Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Liechtenstein, Olympics

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

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 ...

Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics