With seven athletes, Tanzania becomes first nation to confirm Olympic team for Rio 2016
Four marathon runners, two swimmers and one judoka will represent the East African nation in Brazil
Fabiano Joseph (centre) in action at the 2005 half marathon world championships in Edmonton, Canada (Photo: Getty Images/Harry How)
Rio 2016 celebrated an important milestone on Thursday (7 July) after receiving the first official team entry for the Olympic Games. Tanzania, a nation of about 50 million people in East Africa, confirmed that it will send seven athletes to the first edition of the Games in South America.
“We are delighted and excited to receive the first official entry from a National Olympic Committee,” said Melina Xanthopoulou, Rio 2016’s sport entries manager. “Tanzania’s team will be smaller than most, but they will be warmly welcomed here in Rio and we wish them the best of luck.”
The athletes who will represent Tanzania are: Fabiano Joseph (men’s marathon), Saidi Juma Makula (men’s marathon), Alphonce Felix Simbu (men’s marathon), Sara Ramadhani (women’s marathon), Andrew Thomas Mlugu (men’s judo, -73kg), Magdalena Ruth Alex Moshi (women’s swimming, 50m freestyle) and Hilal Hemed Hilal (men’s swimming, 50m freestyle).
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More than 200 nations will compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, with the largest teams expected to come from the USA, Brazil and China. It is estimated that there will be about 550 Americans, about 450 Brazilians and more than 380 Chinese athletes competing for medals in Rio this August.
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Magdalena Moshi at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (Photo: Getty Images/Quinn Rooney)
