| Libya at the 2000 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| IOC code | LBA |
| NOC | Libyan Olympic Committee |
| Website | olympic |
| inSydney | |
| Competitors | 3 in 3 sports |
| Flag bearer | Nizar Mohamed Naeeli |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Libya competed at the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, Australia. The country's participation in Sydney marked its sixth appearance at aSummer Olympics since its debut at the1964 Games. The delegation included three male athletes;marathon runnerAdel Edeli, judokaTarek Ayad andNizar Mohamed Naeeli in taekwondo. Edeli did not finish his race, while Ayad and Naeeli were both eliminated in the first bouts of their respective tournaments.
Libya participated in sixSummer Olympics between its debut at the1964 Games inMexico City, Mexico, and the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, Australia. It has competed at the Olympics on an intermittent basis since its debut, with a 12-year gap taking place before it returned at the1980 Games inMoscow, Soviet Union, and then not attending the followinggames in 1984.[1] It had boycotted the1976 Summer Olympics because of the inclusion of theNew Zealand team at the Games despite thebreach of theinternational sports boycott of South Africa by the nation's rugby union team shortly prior.[2][3] It alsoboycotted the 1984 Games, following the rejection of visas to three Libyan journalists by the United States.[4] The highest number of Libyans at any one Summer Olympics was 29 at the 1980 Moscow Games.[1]
There were three male athletes in the Libyan team for the 2000 Summer Olympics, one in athletics, one in judo and one in taekwondo.[5] The nation had been represented by judokas previously at the 1992 Games,[6] but it was the first time that a Libyan had competed in taekwondo at the Summer Olympics which became an official Olympic sport at the 2000 Games.[7]
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[8]
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Judo | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Taekwondo | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Adel Edeli was the only competitor in athletics for Libya at the 2000 Summer Olympics;[9] he took part in the men's marathon on 1 October. In a field of 100 runners, 19 did not complete the race including Edeli. The medals were shared between athletes from African nations with the gold and bronze going toEthiopia'sGezahgne Abera (two hours, ten minutes and 11 seconds) andTesfaye Tola (two hours, 11 minutes and ten seconds) respectively, and the silver won byEric Wainaina fromKenya (two hours, ten minutes and 31 seconds).[10]
| Athlete | Event | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | ||
| Adel Edeli | Men's marathon | DNF | |
Libya's sole judoka at the 2000 Games wasTarek Ayad,[11] who had previously won a bronze medal at the 1998 African Judo Championships inDakar, Senegal.[12] He competed at theSydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17 September,[13] He was defeated byJapan'sYukimasa Nakamura in the first round of the tournament, after Nakamura scored anippon to automatically win the bout and eliminate Ayad.[14]
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Repechage 1 | Repechage 2 | Repechage 3 | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | ||
| Tarek Ayad | –66 kg |  Nakamura (JPN)L | did not advance | |||||||
The only athlete competing in taekwondo for Libya at the 2000 Summer Olympics wasNizar Mohamed Naeeli,[15] who also acted as the nation's flagbearer during theParade of Nations during the2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[5] At theState Sports Centre on 28 September, Naeeli foughtAslanbek Dzitiyev ofRussia, losing by points, thereby being eliminated from the tournament.[16]
| Athlete | Event | Preliminary round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Repechage Quarterfinals | Repechage Semifinals | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | ||
| Nizar Mohamed Naeeli | Men's −68 kg |  Dzitiyev (RUS)LPTG | did not advance | ||||
