Comoros at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Comoros took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. It was Comoros's fourth appearance in the summer Olympics since its debut in 1996. The Comoros team included three athletes: runners Mhadjou Youssouf and Feta Ahamada, and swimmer Mohamed Attoumane. Ahamada, a 100 metres sprinter, was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony, the first woman to be given the honour. None of the Comoros athletes progressed further than the qualifying heats.

Background
Comoros had participated in the three previous Summer Olympics, debuting in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. At their debut, the country sent four athletes to the games, all of whom competed in athletics; it remains their largest delegation as of 2014. No Comorian athlete has ever won a medal at an Olympic Games.

Three athletes from Comoros were selected to compete in the 2008 Olympics: Mhadjou Youssouf in the men's track and field 100 metres, Feta Ahamada in the women's track and field 100 metres and Mohamed Attoumane in the men's 50 metre freestyle swimming.

Athletics


At the 2008 Olympics, Comoros was represented by one male athlete in athletics, sprinter Mhadjou Youssouf. At age 18, Youssouf was the country's youngest competitor, and was competing at his first Olympics. He competed in the 100 metres on 15 August in Beijing, and finished 6th out of 8 in heat five. His time of 10.62seconds was a personal best, which, as of October 2014, is still his personal best. Overall, Youssouf finished 55th out of 80 competitors. The fastest athlete was Tyrone Edgar (10.13seconds) and the slowest athlete that progressed to the quarterfinals was Uchenna Emedolu (10.46seconds). Youssouf, who was 0.16seconds behind Emedolu, did not progress to the quarterfinals.

Competing at her first Olympics, Feta Ahamada was the only woman competing in the track and field events at the 2008 Summer Olympics for the Comoros. She competed in the 100 metre event on 19 August. Ahamada, drawn into heat seven for the event, ran a time of 11.88seconds and finished sixth in her heat, 0.55seconds behind the winner, Ivet Lalova. She finished 52nd out of 85 athletes overall and was 2.92seconds faster than the slowest athlete, Robina Muqimyar. Ahamada was 0.75seconds behind the fastest athlete (Oludamola Osayomi) and 0.23seconds behind the slowest athlete who progressed to the quarterfinals, Thi Huong Vu. Therefore, Ahamada did not progress to the quarterfinals.


 * Track

Swimming
Mohamed Attoumane represented Comoros as its only swimmer competing in the Beijing Olympics. The oldest Comorian at the games, Attoumane, took part in the men's 50metre freestyle race. He was born in September 1981, and was 26 years old when he appeared for his races. Attoumane had not previously competed at any Olympic games. Attoumane competed in heat six of the preliminaries on 14 August. He finished last in his eight-man heat in a time of 29.63seconds, 5.63seconds behind the heat winner, Yellow Yeiyah. Out of the ninety-seven swimmers competing in the event, Attoumane finished 91st. He was 8.17 seconds behind the fastest athlete, Amaury Leveaux, and was 7.46 seconds behind the slowest athlete that progressed to the semi-finals, Gideon Louw.
 * Men