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
Somalia received one wild card for a middle-distance runner to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics,[11] and Ali Idow Hassan was selected by the Somali Olympic Committee. Hassan was 26 years old at the time of the Paris Games.[12] He was competing in his second Olympic Games after the 2020 Summer Olympics.[12][13][14] Before the competition, Hassan told the media that he was happy for representing the country but sad when he was alone, being the only representative from his nation.[15] The Somali Olympic Committee was criticized for excluding Abdullahi Jama Mahamed, 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.[16][17]
On 7 August, Hassan participated in the first round heats of the men's 800 metres in Stade de France. 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. As only the first three runners in each heat advanced to the semi-finals, Hassan was placed into the repechage. On 8 August, Hassan was assigned to third heat of the repechage. He did not start (DNS) the repechage, and was therefore eliminated.[10] Eventually, the gold was won by Emmanuel Wanyonyi from Kenya, silver by Marco Arop from Canada, and bronze by Djamel Sedjati from Algeria.[10][18]
- 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 | [19][20] | ||||
See also
References
- ^ a b Braidwood, Jamie (11 August 2024). "Every Olympic flagbearer for Paris 2024 closing ceremony". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Paris 2024 Opening ceremony flagbearers information" (PDF). International Olympic Committee (IOC). 26 July 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 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.
- ^ "Countries – Somalia". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- ^ a b c "Somalia (SOM)". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ Allen, Neil (18 July 2007). "On This Day July 18, 1976". The Times. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ a b Grasso, John; Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (2015). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (5th ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. pp. LXXV–LXXVII & 540. ISBN 978-1-4422-4859-5.
- ^ a b c "Somalia at the 2024 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 3 September 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ^ "Ali Idow Hassan Represents Somalia in Men's 800 Meters". Somali Magazine. 10 August 2024. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Athletics Paris 2024 Final Entries". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 11 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Ali Idow". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 11 December 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Somalia at the 2020 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Ali Idow finishes 10th in 1st round of 1500m". Hiiraan Online. Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ FitzGerald, James (7 August 2024). "Olympics 2024: What it's like to be your country's only Olympian". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. 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. Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ Istiila, Hassan. "Somalia's Abdullahi Jama Mohamed excluded from Paris 2024 Olympics despite historic win". Hiiraan Online. Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ "800 Metres Result | The XXXIII Olympic Games". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 26 September 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ "800 Metres Result | The XXXIII Olympic Games". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 26 September 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Results" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2026.