Tonga at the 2008 Summer Olympics
| Tonga at the 2008 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | TGA | ||||||||
| NOC | Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in Beijing | |||||||||
| Competitors | 3 in 2 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer | Ana Po'uhila | ||||||||
| Medals |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Tonga competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Tonga was represented by the Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee, and was one of 117 nations that won no medals at the Games. Tonga was represented by three athletes competing in two sports–Aisea Tohi and Ana Po'uhila in track and field events, and Maamaloa Lolohea in weightlifting. The delegation's appearance at the Olympics marked its seventh consecutive appearance at the Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The flag bearer for Tonga in Beijing was field athlete Ana Po'uhila.
The Kingdom of Tonga is an archipelago of 169 islands (36 are inhabited by about 100,000 people) that is located in the South Pacific Ocean to the far east of Australia. Initially known as the "Friendly Islands" by explorers, The islands of Tonga united under a single monarchy in 1845, and devised a constitution to restrain the monarchy in 1875. It is the only nation in the South Pacific that has neither been formally colonized nor had its original government dissolved, although it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom on 1900. Tonga renounced British protection in 1970 and, as of 2012, was the only monarchy in the Pacific Ocean.
Some 14 years after becoming a sovereign nation in both foreign and domestic affairs, Tonga submitted its first delegation to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, its largest Olympic team ever as of the Beijing Olympics. The first female Tongan athlete participated in the Olympics at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Between 1984 and 2008, Tongan athletes have participated at all of the seven summer Olympics. From 1988 to 2008, however, there had not been a Tongan Olympic team greater than five athletes in size. There had been a single Tongan medalist during this time period: Paea Wolfgramm won a silver medal in boxing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
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