Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

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 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. Syrian Olympic Committee sent a team of seven athletes, four men and three women, to compete in five different sports at the Games, matching the nation's roster size with Beijing 2008 and

Atlanta 1996 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, ...

. This was also the youngest delegation in Syria's Olympic history, with about half the team under the age of 25, and many of them were expected to reach their peak in time for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo. Among the sports represented by the athletes, Syria made its Olympic debut in table tennis, as well as its return to judo after a twelve-year absence. The Syrian delegation featured four returning Olympians from the previous Games; among them were hurdler

Ghfran Almouhamad Ghofrane Mohammad ( ar, غفران محمد; born 6 June 1989) is a Syrian hurdler from Aleppo. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Women's 400 metres hurdles. She did not advance from round 1 and was later disqualified for testing ...

and swimmers

Bayan Jumah Bayan Jumah ( ar, بيان جمعة) is a Syrian swimmer from Aleppo who specializes in butterfly and freestyle events. An ISG silver medalist and Syrian national champion and record-holder. Jumah was the second Syrian female swimmer to compet ...

(women's 50 m freestyle) and American-based breaststroker

Azad Al-Barazi Azad Al-Barazi ( ar, آزاد البرازي; born January 4, 1988) is an American-Syrian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. The grandson of Kurdish Syrian Prime Minister Muhsin al-Barazi’s cousin, Al-Barazi holds a dual citizens ...

. Attending his third Olympics as the oldest and most experienced competitor (aged 29), high jumper Majed Aldin Ghazal reprised his role of leading the Syrian team as the nation's flag bearer for the second consecutive time in the opening ceremony. Syria, however, did not win any Olympic medals in Rio de Janeiro. The nation's last medal happened at the

2004 Summer 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), ...

in Athens, where heavyweight boxer Naser Al-Shami bagged the silver. Unable to end the podium drought in twelve years, Ghazal improved upon his twenty-eighth position from London 2012 to produce a more substantial finish for the Syrians, sharing a seventh-place tie with Cyprus'

Kyriakos Ioannou Kyriakos Ioannou ( el, Κυριάκος Ιωάννου, born 26 July 1984) is a Cypriot high jumper. He has twice won medals at the World Championships in Athletics (2007 and 2009) and was the bronze medallist at the IAAF World Indoor Champions ...

and the Bahamas' Donald Thomas in the men's high jump final. As well as the country's official representatives, a number of Syrians participated in the

Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics The Refugee Olympic Team competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016, as independent Olympic participants. In March 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach declared tha ...

and

Independent Paralympic Athletes at the 2016 Summer Paralympics The Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, a team consisting of refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes, competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Its creation was announced on 5 August ...

, including swimmer Yusra Mardini and Paralympic swimmer

Ibrahim Al Hussein Ibrahim Al Hussein (born 23 September 1988) is a Syrian Paralympic swimmer who represented the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and resides in Greece. He competed in the S9 50 m and 100 m freestyle events and ...

, who carried the Olympic flame through the

Eleonas Elaionas (, , sometimes Anglicized as Eleonas) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece. It is an industrial area and one of the most deprived areas of the municipality of Athens. History The area was named for the fact that in antiquity it ...

refugee camp. (Mardini and her sister Sara inspired the Netflix film '' The Swimmers''.)

Athletics

Syrian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): ;Track & road events ;Field events

Judo

Syria has received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send a judoka competing in the men's lightweight category (73 kg) to the Olympics, signifying the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since

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 ...

Swimming

Syria has received a Universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics.

Table tennis

Syria has received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send Heba Alllejji in the women's singles for the first time to the Olympic table tennis tournament.

Weightlifting

Syria has qualified one male weightlifter for the Rio Olympics by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 Asian Championships. The team must allocate this place by June 20, 2016.

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Syria, 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 ...