Marshall Islands at the Olympics

The Marshall Islands has competed in four summer Olympiads. It has yet to compete at a Winter Olympic Games. The Marshall Islands Olympic debut was at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The highest number of Marshallese athletes participating in a Summer Games is five in the 2008 games in Beijing. No athlete from the Marshall Islands has ever won a medal at the Olympics.

Background
The Marshall Islands are a Micronesian island nation, located in the western Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. As of 2008 the island had a population of approximately 60,000. The island nation was controlled by the United States, and prior to that by Japan and Germany at different times in its history, until gaining its sovereignty. In 1979, the Government of the Marshall Islands was officially established and the country became self-governing. In 1986 the Compact of Free Association with the United States entered into force, granting the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) its sovereignty. The island nation is made up of twenty-nine atolls and five single islands.

The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee was created in 2001, and gained recognition by the International Olympic Committee at their meeting in 2006. The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee brought the total number of NOC's to 203 at the time of their admittance.

2008 Summer Olympics


The Marshall Islands debuted at the 2008 Summer Olympic in Beijing, China, with five athletes competing in three sports. Roman William Cress and Haley Nemra represented the nation in the track and field events. Jared Heine and Julianne Kirchner competed in the swimming events. Anju Jason, who competed in taekwondo at the Games, is the only Marshallese athlete to have competed in taekwondo at the Olympics as of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Bar Jason, who defeated a competitor from Samoa at the qualification tournament in New Caledonia, all were wildcard entries, having failed to meet the qualification criteria for their respective events.

Both Cress and Nemra failed to advance from their track and field heats: Cress finished eighth out of the nine athletes in his men's 100m heat with a time of 11.12 seconds, while Nemra finished seventh out of the eight athletes in her women's 800m heat in 2:18.83. Neither Heine or Kirchner managed to advance from their respective heats: Heine finished third in his men's 100m backstroke heat in a time of 58.86, placing forty-third in the standings; meanwhile Kirchner finished fourth in her women's 50 meter freestyle heat in a time of 30.42, placing seventy-fifth in the standings. Anju Jason competed in the men's welterweight division, where he was one of six athletes eliminated in tier eleven.

2012 Summer Olympics
The Marshall Islands sent four athletes to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Timi Garstang and Haley Nemra competed in the track and field events and Giordan Harris and Ann-Marie Hepler represented the nation in swimming at the Games. Before competing in the 2012 Summer Games, the Marshallese delegation attended a training camp in Australia for a month.

2016 Summer Olympics
Five athletes from the Marshall Islands took part in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Richson Simeon and Mariana Cress represented the nation in the track and field events. Giordan Harris and Colleen Furgeson competed in the swimming events. Mathlynn Sasser, who took part in weightlifting at the Games, was the first (and, as of the 2016 Games, only) Marshallese athlete to compete in weightlifting at the Olympics.