Cook Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics
| Cook Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | COK | ||||||||
| NOC | Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in Beijing | |||||||||
| Competitors | 4 in 3 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer |
Sam Pera Junior (opening) Tereapii Tapoki (closing) |
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| Medals |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
On behalf of the Cook Islands, the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee sent a team to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, marking its sixth consecutive appearance at the Olympics since its debut in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The country sent four athletes to the Games across three sports and four distinct events (Gordon Heather and Tereapii Tapoki in track and field, Petero Okotai in swimming, and Sam Pera, Jr. in weightlifting). No athlete of the Cook Islander delegation progressed past the first rounds in their events (with the exception of weightlifting, where the first round was the only round) and did not go on to win medals. Pera was the nation's flag bearer at the ceremonies.
The Cook Islands are a collection of fifteen islands lying in the South Pacific Ocean that are governed under a single parliamentary entity. Some 10,000 people live in the dependency. The country is in a free association with New Zealand, who handles the nation's external affairs. The Cook Islands became self-governing in 1965. 23 years later, the Cook Islands sent their first delegation to the Olympics at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Between 1988 and 2008, the Cook Islands sent delegations to all six Summer Olympic games. The size of the Cook Islander delegation was largest in 1988, when it reached seven athletes. The size of the nation's delegation has not risen past four since then as of the Beijing Olympics.
At Beijing, four athletes competed for the Cook Islands. Of those competitors, three were men (Heather, Okotai, Pera) and one was a woman (Tapoki). They competed across three sports (track and field, swimming and weightlifting) and four distinct events (men's 100 meters and women's discus throw in track and field, men's 100 meters breaststroke in swimming, and men's heavyweight in weightlifting). As of the 2008 Olympics, there had not been a Cook Islander who has won a medal at the Olympics. Sam Pera, Jr., a weightlifter, was the flagbearer for the Cook Islands at the ceremonies.
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