Timor-Leste at the 2012 Summer Olympics |
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IOC code | TLS | ||||||||
NOC | National Olympic Committee of East Timor | ||||||||
in London | |||||||||
Competitors | 2 in 1 sports | ||||||||
Flag bearer |
Augusto Ramos Soares (opening) Juventina Napoleão (closing) |
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Medals |
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Summer Olympics appearances | |||||||||
Other related appearances | |||||||||
Indonesia (1984–1996) Independent Olympic Athletes (2000) |
Timor-Leste competed at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's fourth appearance at the Olympics, although it was first appeared as part of the Individual Olympic Athletes. Two marathon runners were selected to the team by wildcard places, without having qualified at any sporting event. Timor-Leste, however, has yet to win its first Olympic medal.
Augusto Ramos Soares and Juventina Napoleão were the only Timorese athletes competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Soares was coached by Agueda Amaral, one of Timor-Leste's most famous athletes, who represented Timor Leste at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Unlike Amaral, who trained in a refugee camp, Soares trained in Portugal in mid-June earlier that year.
Timor-Leste has qualified two runners.
Augusto Ramos Soares represented East Timor at the London Games as the nation's only male track runner. He had not previously competed at any Olympic games. The men's marathon took place on August 12, with Soares competing against 109 athletes. The East Timorese athlete finished the competition in 2:45:09 and placed 84th out of the 85 finishing competitors, displacing Tsepo Ramonene of Lesotho (2:55:54) but falling behind Juan Carlos Cardona of Colombia (2:40:13). In comparison, the gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda finished in 2:08:01.
Juventina Napoleão represented East Timor at the London Olympics as its only female track athlete. She had not previously competed at the Olympic games. The race took place on August 5, with Napoleão facing 117 athletes. She finished the race in 3:05:07, placing 106th out of the 107th athletes; she finished ahead of Caitriona Jennings of Ireland (3:22:11) and behind Ni Lar San of Myanmar (3:04:27). In comparison, Tiki Gelana won the gold medal with an Olympic-record-breaking 2:23:07.