São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

competed at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, which took place from 15 September to 1 October 2000. This marked the country's second appearance at the Summer Olympics, following its debut at the

1996 Summer 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, ...

. Its delegation consisted of two track and field athletes, Arlindo Pinheiro and

Naide Gomes Enezenaide "Naide" do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes (born 20 November 1979) is a São Toméan-born Portuguese retired track and field athlete who competed in jumping, throwing, hurdling, and combined events. She is the 2004 World Indoor Champio ...

, who were selected to represent the country via wildcards, as the country had no athletes that met either the "A" or "B" qualifying standards. Pinheiro competed in the men's

110 m hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

and Gomes competing in the women's

100 m hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

, respectively. Gomes was selected as the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. Despite Pinheiro setting a national record with his time, ultimately, neither athlete progressed beyond the heats of their respective events.

Background

São Tomé and Príncipe participated in two Summer Olympic games between its debut in the 1996 Summer Olympics in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, United States and the 2000 Summer Olympics. No São Tomé and Príncipe athlete had ever won a medal at the Summer Olympics prior to the Sydney Games. The São Tomé and Príncipe

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) selected two athletes via wildcards. Usually a NOC would be able to select up to three athletes per event providing that each athlete passed the "A" standard time for that event. However, since São Tomé and Príncipe had no athletes that met either standard for any event, they were allowed to select their best two athletes, one of each gender, to represent the nation at the Games.

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.São Tomé and Príncipe at the 2000 Summer Olympics
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Athletics

Arlindo Pinheiro was 29 years old at the time of his Olympic debut in Sydney. He competed in the heats of the men's 100 metres on 24 September. He was assigned to heat six and finished sixth with a time of 15.65 seconds, a national record for his country. Nonetheless, only the top three from a heat advanced, so he was eliminated.

Men

Women

References

Sources

* Wallechinsky, David (2004). ''The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics (Athens 2004 Edition)''. Toronto, Canada. . * International Olympic Committee (2001)
The Results
Retrieved 12 November 2005. * Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2001)
Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad Volume 1: Preparing for the Games
Retrieved 20 November 2005. * Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2001)
Official Report of the XXVII Olympiad Volume 2: Celebrating the Games
Retrieved 20 November 2005. * Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2001)
The Results
Retrieved 20 November 2005.
International Olympic Committee Web Site

Sao Tome and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2000 in São Tomé and Príncipe {{2000-Olympic-stub