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Tuvalu made their first ever appearance in an Olympic Games when the country sent three athletes to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The athletes from Tuvalu competed in two events. Tuvalu's flagbearer during the Games' opening ceremony was weightlifter Logona Esau.〔("Tuvaluan lifter Esau looks forward to Olympic debut" ), Xinhua, August 7, 2008〕 ==History== The nation of Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. A former colony of Great Britain, the island nation became fully independent within The Commonwealth in 1978.〔(CIA World Fact Book on Tuvalu ) URL accessed 2006-05-13.〕 The nation has an approximate population of 12,000. Tuvalu's international participation in sports has been limited, however weightlifter Logona Esau won the nation's first international competition medal during the Pacific Mini Games in 2005, when he won the bronze.〔("Manoa makes Olympic history for tiny Tuvalu" ), ABC Radio Australia, July 17, 2008〕 He was later awarded a silver medal at the 2007 Pacific Games.〔("Tuvalu Earns Silver at South Pacific Games" ), Tuvalu News, August 29, 2007〕 Tuvalu created its National Olympic Committee in 2004,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=2008 Summer Olympics Country Profile )〕 and gained International Olympic Committee recognition in 2007 during the IOC's meetings in Guatemala City.〔 The nine small islands that constitute Tuvalu own its own sports infrastructure. However, the nation has eleven active federations of national sports. Included in federation are the following Olympic sports: badminton, basketball, volleyball, weightlifting, tennis and table tennis. The admittance of Tuvalu, along with Montenegro (who participated as Serbia and Montenegro at the 2004 Summer Olympics) and Marshall Islands brought the total number of nations competing in the 2008 Olympics to 205.〔 The members of the Tuvaluan team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were Logona Esau and two competitors in the woman's and men's 100 metre sprint.〔("Tuvalu sends three athletes to Beijing" ), Xinhua, July 19, 2008〕 The two runners were Asenate Manoa, who also was the nation's first female Olympian, and Okilani Tinilau. Both runners trained in Suva, Fiji alongside members of the Fiji national team.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tuvalu at the 2008 Summer Olympics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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