East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

is a relatively new country. As one of the world's poorest countries, athletic activities are limited at the professional level.

International sports associations

East Timor belongs to numerous international sport associations, including 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 ...

(IOC). The IOC board has granted full recognition to the East Timorese

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Committee (COTL). The IOC allowed a symbolic four-member East Timor team to take part in the 2000 Sydney Games under the Olympic flag as "Independent Olympic Athletes." The Federação Timor-Leste de Atletismo had joined 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 for ...

(IAAF). The Federação de Badminton de Timor-Leste joined the International Badminton Federation (IBF) in April 2003. The East Timor Cycling Federation joined the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

. Confederacao do Desporto de Timor Leste also joined the International Weightlifting Federation. East Timor is also a full member of the International Table-Tennis Federation (ITTF). In September 2005, East Timor's national football team joined

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, East Timor's national basketball team joined

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

in 2013.

Participation in international events

East Timor has taken part in multiple international sporting events. Although the athletes came back with no medals, East Timorese athletes had the opportunity to compete with other Southeast Asian athletes in the

2003 Southeast Asian Games The 2003 Southeast Asian Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Đông Nam Á 2003), officially known as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games and also known as Vietnam 2003, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 5 to 13 December 2003 in Hano ...

held in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in 2003. In the 2003 ASEAN

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

Games, also held in Vietnam, East Timor won a bronze medal. In the

Athens 2004 Olympic Games 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), ...

, six athletes participated in three sports: athletics, weightlifting and boxing. East Timor won three medals in Arnis at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. East Timor was one of the competing nations in the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Lusophony Games The Lusofonia Games ( pt, Jogos da Lusofonia) is a multinational multi-sport event organized by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries. Most countries competing are countries that are members of ...

, winning a bronze medal in the women's volleyball competition (finishing third out of three teams, despite the fact the team lost all three games in which it competed). On 30 October 2008, East Timor earned their first international points in a

match with a 2–2 draw against Cambodia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sport In East Timor East Timorese culture

International sports associations

Participation in international events

See also

References