Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, that were celebrated 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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Nauru was represented by the

Nauru Olympic Committee Nauru Olympic Committee (IOC code: NRU) is the National Olympic Committee representing Nauru. It represents and organises the Olympic movement on the island. The NNOC was founded in 1991 and was recognised by the International Olympic Committee ...

, and was the only nation out of 204 participating nations and territories that sent only a single athlete, and was one of 117 that won no medals at the Games. The sole athlete to represent the nation was Itte Detenamo, who participated in the

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

, and was the flag bearer in both the

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

and

closing ceremonies Closing may refer to: Business and law * Closing (law), a closing argument, a summation * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction * Closing (sales), the process of making a sale * Closing a business, the proc ...

. This was the same number of athletes as at the

1996 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, ...

, when Marcus Stephen (who later became President of Nauru) represented the country in the same sport, but was a decrease from the nation's last appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Nauru earned a berth for the weightlifting event in the Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships in 2008 and a chance to send participants in swimming and athletics events, but chose to send only a weightlifter. Itte Detenamo competed in the Group B of heavyweight class, fifteenth and last event of the weightlifting. He did not earn a medal, but finished with a personal best.

Delegation

The delegation of the Nauru for the 2008 Summer Olympics consisted of four men. The first, Itte Detenamo, was the sole athlete and competed in the weightlifting competition. Also in the delegation as a manager of Itte was

Yukio Peter Yukio Stinson Peter (born 29 January 1984 in Aiwo) is a weightlifter from Nauru. Career 2004 Yukio snatched 142.5 kg and clean and jerked 165 kg (total 307.5 kg) to place eighth at the 2004 Olympic Games in the Men's 69 kg div ...

—

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 ...

Olympian—who holds the record for the best placing in any Olympics by any Nauruan, eighth in the lightweight category (69 kg) of the weightlifting event in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Delegation was also accompanied by

Vinson Detenamo Vinson Franco Detenamo (born 1954 in Buada) is a Nauruan politician. Since the 1980s, Detenamo has been a member of the Parliament of Nauru for Buada. He served as the Minister of Interior and Finance. He served as Minister Assisting the Presid ...

, father of Itte and the then and first President of the Nauru Olympic Committee. As the former sport minister of Nauru, Vinson had helped in the establishment of Nauru Olympic Committee in 1991 during his term in the Ministry of Sport. The final member of the delegation was Lou Keke as Nauru's Olympic chef de mission.

Qualification

Nauru earned a qualification place in weightlifting in the International Weightlifting Federation's continental Olympic qualification event—Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships—held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand from March 27 to 30, 2008. At the event only those National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

which had not gained berths for 2008 Olympics in the

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and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

World Weightlifting Championships got chance to win qualification places. Itte Detenamo was selected over Yukio Peter to fill the earned quota. Nauru could have sent participants in swimming and

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), competiti ...

also, but chose not to as there was no national governing body of swimming and the nation lacked basic infrastructure and competitive athletes in order to complete in athletics. Nauru's representation of sole athlete in the 2008 Games was the same number of athletes as at the

, when Marcus Stephen—incumbent President of Nauru, President of the Nauru Olympic Committee and Oceania Weightlifting Federation—represented the country in the same sport. Marcus had previously competed for

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

in 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 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

as Nauru was not recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

as a National Olympic Committee until 1994. The attendance at the 2008 games was a decrease from the nation's previous appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to

Weightlifting

Itte Detenamo represented Nauru in the super heavyweight class of weightlifting. It was his second Olympics appearance; he was ranked previously 14th in the same weight category at the

2004 Athens 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), ...

. The whole competition took place on August 19, but was divided in two parts due to the number of competitors. Group B weightlifters competed at 15:30 CST, and Group A, at 19:00 CST. The event was the fifteenth and last weightlifting event to conclude. Itte competed in group B of the event; his highest successfully lifted weight in snatch was 175 kg, out of 165, 170 and 175 kg, and in

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 ...

his best was 210 kg, out of 205 and 210 kg, he also tried a failed attempt for 215 kg. Itte finished in 10th place in the final standings with a total of 385 kg, setting a personal best.

References

{{Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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 ...

Delegation

Qualification

Weightlifting

See also

References