Up to this point, the nation had participated in the Summer Olympic Games on eight occasions since its first appearance in 1972. A total of nine athletes, six men and three women, were selected by the national committee to compete in six sports.
In weightlifting, Albania competed with two men. Briken Calja, the European Weightlifting Champion from 2018, competed in the Men's 73 kg category, while Erkand Qerimaj competed in the Men's 81 kg competition.[4][5]
The best result was achieved by Briken Calja, who finished 4th after lifting 342kg. This marks Albania's highest finishing position at an event in their history at the Summer Olympics.[6][7]
Another notable achievement came from Luiza Gega, who qualified for the Finals in Athletics, being the first athlete to do so.[8] In the end, she finished the finals in 13th, with a time of 9:34.10.[9]
Despite significant improvements from previous Olympics, Albania remains without an Olympic medal.[10][11]
Albanian athletes further achieved the entry standards, by world ranking (one female) or by Universality place (one man), in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[15][16]
Key
Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
Albania received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send a male gymnast to the Games, marking the country's debut in the sport. Matvei Petrov entered the men's pommel horse and finished tenth in the qualification round, failing to qulify for the final but being listed as first reserve.[17]
Albania was represented by Manuela Delilaj in the shooting tournament of the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14] The nation received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission (TC) to send a women's air pistol shooter to the games, as long as the minimum qualifying score (MQS) was fulfilled by June 2021.[18] Delilaj competed in the women's 10 m air pistol category on 25 July 2021 and was ranked 37 overall.[19]
Albania was represented by Kledi Kadiu and Nikol Merizaj in the swimming tournament of the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14] The nation received a universality invitation from International Swimming Federation (FINA) to send two top-ranked swimmers in their respective individual events to the games based on the federation's points system of July 2021.[20] Kadiu competed in the men's 100 m freestyle category on 27 July 2021 and was ranked 52 overall.[21] Following this on 30 July, Merizaj participated in the women's 50 m freestyle category and eventually finished 42 overall.[22]
Albania will be represented by Briken Calja and Erkand Qerimaj in the weightlifting tournament of the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14] The nations weightlifters qualified for two quota places based on the 2020 rankings qualification list of June 2021.[23] Calja competed in the men's 73kg category on 28 July 2021 and was ranked fourth overall,[24] narrowly missing out the country's first ever olympic medal.
