Ethiopia at the 2012 Summer Olympics
| Ethiopia at the 2012 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | ETH | ||||||||
| NOC | Ethiopian Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in London | |||||||||
| Competitors | 35 in 2 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer |
Yanet Seyoum (opening) Tirunesh Dibaba (closing) |
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Medals Ranked 23rd |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Ethiopia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's twelfth appearance at the Olympics, having missed three occasions because of the African, Soviet, and North Korean boycott. The Ethiopian Olympic Committee sent a total of 35 athletes to the Games, 18 men and 17 women, to compete only in athletics, specifically in the middle and long-distance running events, and swimming, the nation's Olympic debut.
The Ethiopian team featured the defending Olympic champions, long-distance runners Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba. Among these champions, Dibaba managed to defend her Olympic title, in the women's 10,000 metres event. Another middle-distance runner Meseret Defar became the second Ethiopian female athlete to regain her title in the women's 5,000 metres event, ahead of her compatriot and defending champion Dibaba, who won only the bronze medal. Tiki Gelana became the second female Ethiopian to win the women's marathon after 16 years. Swimmer Yanet Seyoum was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Ethiopia left London with a total of 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze), sharing the same records with Beijing and Athens, respectively. All gold medals were received only by women for the first time in its history.
Ethiopia selected a total of 33 athletes in the track and field after having achieved qualifying standards in their respective events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard): Most of them were past Olympic medalists, All-African Games medalists, and winners from last year's world championships. Three of them were defending titleholders including middle-distance runners Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba, and Meseret Defar.
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