The

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

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 ...

, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's ninth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes – Rosefelo Siosi and Sharon Firisua – as well as weightlifter Jenly Tegu Wini. Wini was a returning competitor from the

2012 London 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 ...

and also led the delegation in those Games. The Solomon Islands, however, has yet to win its first Olympic medal.

Background

The nation state of

comprises an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

of approximately a thousand islands that serves as home to almost 600,000 people. The islands were designated a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

of the United Kingdom in the 1890s, and remained under British control during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, where the archipelago was the centre of some of the war's worst fighting. In 1976, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate won the right to self-government, and declared independence in 1978 under the name ''Solomon Islands''. The nation fell into a period of civil instability between then and 2003, when Australia led a multi-disciplinary mission, the

Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata (by New Zealand), was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of ...

(RAMSI) to restore law and order in the country. The Solomon Islands participated in nine Summer Olympics between their debut in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in

, Brazil. The highest number of Solomon Islanders participating any single Summer Games was four at the 1988, 1996, and 2012 Summer Olympics. No Solomon Islander has ever won a medal at any Games. The Solomon Islands have never competed in the

Winter Olympics 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 h ...

. All Solomon Islanders participated through

wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

slots from the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

and

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

. Jenly Tegu Wini was chosen to be the nation's flagbearer during the

parade of nations The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...

of the opening ceremony while Rosefelo Siosi bore it during the closing ceremony.

Athletics

The Solomon Islands have received universality slots from IAAF to send two athletes (one male and one female) to the Olympics. Sharon Firisua Rio2016

;Track & road events

Weightlifting

Jenly Tegu Wini participated on the Solomon Islands' behalf in the women's lightweight (58 kilogram) weightlifting competition. Wini qualified through an unused quota place from the IWF to send a female weightlifter to the Olympics. Wini had participated in the previous 2012 Summer Olympics in the same category, finishing 17th. She had previously won three silver medals in the women 69kg weightlifting event of the

2009 Pacific Mini Games The 2009 Pacific Mini Games was held in the Cook Islands from 21 September to 2 October. It was the 8th edition of the Pacific Mini Games. Torch lighters were the athletes Daniel Tutai and Patricia Taea, the Cook Islands' junior sportsman and ...

in Rarotonga, albeit the bronze medal was not awarded due to insufficient competitors. Her event took place on 9 March, and included 15 other athletes. During the snatch phase of the event, Wini succeeded in her first two attempts of lifting and , but failed her third attempt of , ranking fourteenth. In the event's clean and jerk phase, Wini repeated the pattern of the snatch stage, successfully lifting her first two attempts of and but failing to lift . She finished fifteenth with a total of , 52 points under gold medalist Sukanya Srisurat and 26 points ahead of Ayesha Albalooshi.

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Solomon Islands, Summer Olympics Olympics Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics Solomon Islands at the Summer Olympics by year, 2016