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.[1] 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 Micronesianisland 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.[2][3]
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.[4][5][6]
Both Cress and Nemra failed to advance from their track and field heats:[10] Cress finished eighth out of the nine athletes in his men's 100m heat with a time of 11.12 seconds,[11] while Nemra finished seventh out of the eight athletes in her women's 800m heat in 2:18.83.[12] 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;[13] meanwhile Kirchner finished fourth in her women's 50 meter freestyle heat in a time of 30.42, placing seventy-fifth in the standings.[14] Anju Jason competed in the men's welterweight division, where he was one of six athletes eliminated in tier eleven.[15]
