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 Island, Manono an ...

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. This was the nation's ninth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympic Games, although it had previously competed in four editions under the name ''Western Samoa''. Samoa Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee Inc. (SASNOC) sent the nation's second-largest delegation to the Games, tying its record for the most athletes with Los Angeles 1984 and

London 2012 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 ...

. A total of eight athletes, five men and three women, were selected to the Samoan squad across five different sports; all of them made their Olympic debut in

. Among the sports represented by the athletes, Samoa marked its Olympic debut in swimming. Four Samoan athletes were born and raised in the United States and New Zealand, having acquired a dual citizenship to compete for their parents' homeland at the Games. Among them were New Zealand-born flatwater kayaker Anne Cairns, discus thrower Alex Rose, sprinter

Jeremy Dodson Jeremy Raponi Dodson (born August 30, 1987) is an American-Samoan sprinter, competing primarily in the sprint events of track & field. He represented the United States of America professionally at several Athletic World Championships. He then r ...

, and 18-year-old freestyle swimmer

Brandon Schuster Brandon Schuster (born 23 April 1998 in Fiji) is a Samoan swimmer who represented Samoa at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He holds multiple Samoan records in swimming. Personal life Schuster is the son of Samoan politician Toeolesulusulu Cedric S ...

. Meanwhile, weightlifter and Commonwealth Games champion Mary Opeloge (women's 75 kg) continued the tradition of her family in carrying the Samoan flag at the opening ceremony, with her older sister Ele having had the honor in 2008 and 2012. Samoa, however, has yet to win its first ever Olympic medal.

Athletics

Two athletes was selected to represent Samoa at the 2016 Olympics. The first was

who was competing in his first (and only) Olympics. After formally representing the United States at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

, he was selected to compete for Samoa by his parent side. ;Track & road events ;Field events

Canoeing

Sprint

Samoan canoeists have qualified one boat in each of the following events through the 2016 Oceania Championships. Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Judo

Samoa qualified one judoka for the men's heavyweight category (+100 kg) at the Games. Derek Sua earned a continental quota spot from the Oceania region, as the highest-ranked Samoan judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016. Sua was eliminated in the second round by Abdullo Tangriev.

Swimming

Samoa has received a Universality invitation from

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics, signifying the nation's debut in the sport.

Weightlifting

Samoa has qualified one male and one female weightlifter for the Rio Olympics by virtue of a top five national finish (for men) and top four (for women), respectively, at the 2016 Oceania Championships.

References

External links

{{Country at games navbox, Samoa, Summer 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 ...

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 ...