Misery continues to haunt Team TZ in Paris

TANZANIA: TEAM Tanzania has faced further disappointment at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as swimmer Collins Saliboko (pictured) was unable to advance in the men’s 100m freestyle.

Saliboko finished 71st out of 79 competitors, falling short of a spot in the semifinals.

He joins Judoka Andrew Mlugu, who was also eliminated early, as Tanzania’s only athletes to exit the competition so far.

In his heat, Saliboko, competing in the second group of eight swimmers, finished seventh with a time of 53.38 seconds.

This was 1.16 seconds off his personal best and below the qualification mark. Ovesh Purahoo of Mauritius won the heat with a time of 52.22 seconds, followed by Nixon Hernandez of El Salvador (52.73 seconds) and Antoine de Lapparent of Cambodia (52.95 seconds) while Irvin Hoost of Suriname came in fourth with 52.99 seconds.

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Islam Samiul Rafi of Bangladesh and Hemed Samir Issa Al Adawi of Oman were placed fifth and sixth, respectively, while Yousef Abubakar of Libya was last in the group with a time of 56.19 seconds.

Previously, Tanzanian judoka Andrew Mlugu was eliminated in the Round of 16 after a decisive 10-0 defeat to French competitor Joan Benjamin Gaba.

With these results, Tanzania’s hopes for an Olympic medal now rest on the performance of five remaining athletes.

Swimmer Sophia Latiff is set to compete in the women’s 50m freestyle on August 3, marathon runners Alphonce Felix and Gabriel Geay will compete in the men’s marathon on August 11 and female marathon runners Magdalena Shauri and Jackline Sakilu will race on August 10 in the 42-kilometer event.

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games which commenced on July 24 in France will wind up on August 11 where a total of 204 out of 206 National Olympic Committees are represented, including 54 from Africa, 48 from Europe, 44 from Asia, 41 from the Americas and 17 from Oceania.

Notably, North Korea has returned to the Games in 2024 after missing the 2020 edition