Somalia at the 2024 Summer Olympics
| Somalia at the 2024 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | SOM |
| NOC | Somali Olympic Committee |
| in Paris, France 26 July 2024 – 11 August 2024 | |
| Competitors | 1 in 1 sport |
| Flag bearer (opening) | Ali Idow Hassan[2] |
| Flag bearer (closing) | Volunteer[1] |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Somalia sent a delegation to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Since the nation's debut in 1972, Somalia competed in every Summer Olympics except for three occasions: 1976, due to the Congolese-led boycott; 1980, due to the US-led boycott; and 1992, for political reasons. It was the nation's 11th appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Somalia's team consisted of one male athletics athlete, Ali Idow Hassan, and he served as the country's opening ceremony flagbearer. Ultimately, Hassan was eliminated for not starting in the repechage, failing to earn his Olympic medal as a result.
Background
The Somali Olympic Committee was recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1972.[3] The nation debuted that year in the 1972 Summer Olympics.[4][5] Somalia participated in an African boycott over New Zealand's participation at the 1976 Summer Olympics,[6] and joined a United States-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[7] It did not compete again until the 1984 Summer Olympics.[5] Somalia forwent the 1992 Summer Olympics, possibly because of the ongoing famine affecting the country, though it participated in the opening ceremony.[7]
Somalia took part in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024.[8] It was their 11th appearance at a Summer Olympic Games.[5] The delegation consisted of one male athletics athlete, Ali Idow Hassan.[9][8] Hassan was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony,[2] and a volunteer carried the flag for the closing ceremony.[1]
Competitors
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[8]
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Athletics
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Somalia received one wild card for a middle-distance runner to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics,[10] and Ali Idow Hassan was selected by the Somali Olympic Committee. Hassan was 26 years old at the time of the Paris Games[11]. He was competing in his second Olympic Games after the 2020 Summer Olympics.[11][12][13] Before the competition, Hassan told the media that he was both happy for representing the country, while at the same time felling sad when he was alone, as he was the only representative from his nation.[14] On 7 August, he participated in the first round heats of the men's 800 metres.[15] Drawn to the second heat, Hassan finished the race in a time of 1 minute and 48.72 seconds, placed eighth out of nine runners in his heat.[15] As only the first three runners in each heat advanced to the semi-finals, Hassan was placed into the repechage. [15] On 8 August, Hassan was assigned to third heat of the repechage. [15] He did not start (DNS) the repechage, and was therefore eliminated.[15] Eventually, the gold was won by Emmanuel Wanyonyi from Kenya, silver by Marco Arop from Canada and bronze by Djamel Sedjati from Algeria.[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
- NR = National record
- N/A = Round not applicable for the event
- Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
- Track events
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Repechage | Semifinal | Final | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Result | Rank | Rank | |||
| Ali Idow Hassan | Men's 800 m | 1.48:72 | 8 | DNS | Did not advance | [17][18] | ||||
Controversies
Somalia has faced controversies regarding athlete selection for major international competitions for a long time. In 2023, during the World University Games in Chengdu, China, novice sprinter Nasra Abukar Ali, the niece of Somali Athletics Federation senior vice-president Khadija Aden Dahir, competed in the women's 100 metres and finished last with a time of 21.81 seconds, sparking widespread allegations of nepotism and corruption.[19][20][21] These issues extended to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where middle-distance runner Ali Idow Hassan was selected as Somalia's sole athletics representative for the men's 800 metres, but failed to start in the repechage round and was eliminated.[22] Criticism focused on the Somali Olympic Committee's decision to exclude Abdullahi Jama Mahamed,[23] who had secured Somalia's first global athletics medal in over 35 years with a silver in the 5000 metres at the 2023 African Games,[23] in favor of less accomplished athletes, fueling further accusations of corruption and mismanagement within the federation.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Every Olympic flagbearer for Paris 2024 closing ceremony". The Independent. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Paris 2024 Opening ceremony flagbearers information" (PDF). www.olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ "Somalia – National Olympic Committee (NOC)". International Olympic Committee. 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Sports Reference – Countries – Somalia". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ a b c "Olympedia – Somalia (SOM)". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ Allen, Neil (18 July 2007). "On This Day July 18, 1976; The All Blacks' tour of South Africa sparked a mass boycott of the New Zealand Olympic team, eventually depriving the Montreal Games of 28 nations, mostly from Africa and the Caribbean". The Times. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ a b Grasso, John; Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (2015). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. pp. LXXV–LXXVII & 540. ISBN 978-1-4422-4859-5.
- ^ a b c "Olympedia – Somalia at the 2024 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ^ "Ali Idow Hassan Represents Somalia in Men's 800 Meters". www.somalimagazine.so. Somali Magazine. 10 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "Athletics Paris 2024 Final Entries". World Athletics. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Olympedia – Ali Idow". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Olympedia – Somalia at the 2020 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Ali Idow finishes 10th in 1st round of 1500m". Hiiraan Online. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ "Olympics 2024: What it's like to be your country's only Olympian". www.bbc.com. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f "Olympedia – 800 metres, Men". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "800 Metres Result | The XXXIII Olympic Games". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ "800 Metres Result | The XXXIII Olympic Games". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Somalia sorry for fielding record slow sprinter". Hiiraan Online. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ Skipworth, William (2 August 2023). "Viral Video Of Somalia's Sluggish 100m Raises Questions Of Corruption And Nepotism". forbes.com.
- ^ Cooper, Matthew (2 August 2023). "Outrage as 'untrained' Somali sprinter jogs 100m in international competition". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ "Somali Athletes in Paris 2024: Bashir Abdi wins silver, Mohamed Ahmed, Sultan Hassan, and Abdihamid Nur's Olympic performances". Hiiraan Online. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Somalia's Abdullahi Jama Mohamed excluded from Paris 2024 Olympics despite historic win". Hiiraan Online. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
