| Solomon Islands at the 2024 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | SOL |
| NOC | National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands |
| Website | www |
| inParis, France 26 July 2024 (2024-07-26) – 11 August 2024 (2024-08-11) | |
| Competitors | 2 in 2 sports |
| Flag bearer (opening) | Isabella Millar |
| Flag bearer (closing) | Sharon Firisua |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Solomon Islands competed at the2024 Summer Olympics inParis, France, which were held from 26 July to 11 August 2024. The country's participation in Paris marked its eleventh appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in1984. The athlete delegation of the country was composed of two people:Sharon Firisua inathletics andIsabella Millar inswimming. TheSolomon Islands Athletics Federation also tried to qualify more athletics competitors for the games but they had already missed the deadline for submission. The delegation was supported by a collaboration between theAustralian Government and theAustralian Olympic Committee, which was made for the development of sport in Pacific nations.
Firisua and Millar qualified for the games after receivinguniversality slots in their events, which allows underrepresented nations to compete and for aNational Olympic Committee (NOC) to send athletes despite not meeting the other qualification criteria. Firisua competed in thewomen's 100 metres but ran in a time not fast enough to progress into further rounds, though she set a personal best in the event. Millar then competed in thewomen's 50 metre freestyle and also did not progress further after not finishing with a fast enough time. Thus, Solomon Islands has yet to win an Olympic medal.
The games were held from July 26 to August 11, 2024, in the city ofParis, France.[1] This edition marked the nation's eleventh appearance at theSummer Olympics since its debut at the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles, United States. The nation had never won a medal at the Olympics, with its best performance coming from judokaTony Lomo placing joint ninth in themen's 60 kg event at the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon, United Kingdom.[2]
In the lead-up to the 2024 games, theAustralian Government announced a collaboration with theAustralian Olympic Committee to assist over 230 athletes from 13 Pacific nations[a] for the 2024 Summer Olympics and2024 Summer Paralympics, which included Solomon Islands. The collaboration was made to create opportunities for the said nations to compete in international competition, gain access to coaching, and to developsports diplomacy.[3][4][‡ 1] TheInternational Olympic Committee also awarded seven athletes from Solomon Islands a scholarship in the lead-up on 3 November 2022. The athletes that were awarded the scholarships wereSharon Firisua andRosefelo Siosi in athletics,Pemberton Lele in boxing,Issac Pat Myrie in taekwondo, andMary Kini Lifu andJenly Tegu Wini in weightlifting.[5]
The athlete delegation of the nation for the games was composed of two athletes: Sharon Firisua inathletics andIsabella Millar inswimming. The nation was the only athlete delegation to only have female competitors at these games, with all of the other delegations including at least one male competitor.[6] Nationally top-rankedboxer Pemberton Lele was set to join the delegation[7] as hequalified for themen's 63.5 kg event through auniversality slot, which allows underrepresented nations to compete and forNational Olympic Committee (NOC) to send athletes despite not meeting the standard qualification criteria.[8][9] In the lead-up to the games, he participated in theOceanian Olympic Qualifying Tournament inHoniara, Solomon Islands, but he placed third and failed to qualify through this quota.[10] He aimed to earn the nation's first Olympic gold medal at these games,[11] though withdrew due to logistical errors, with the slot being transferred toJohn Ume ofPapua New Guinea.[12][13]
The delegation was composed of thechef de mission, NOCSI representatives, the athletes, and their coaches. They traveled fromHoniara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, on 15 July, then made stops inBrisbane,Dubai, andGeneva, before landing in Paris.[14] The final delegation went to a training camp inDivonne-les-Bains with other Pacific athletes for their preparations for the Games.[15]
The Solomon Islander delegation came in 160th out of the 205National Olympic Committees in the2024 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations within theopening ceremony. Millar solelyheld the flag for the delegation in the parade.[16] At theclosing ceremony, Firisua held the flag.[17]
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Swimming | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Solomon Islands was eligible for universality slots to send athletics competitors to the games.[8] TheSolomon Islands Athletics Federation (SIAF) initially nominated long-distance runner Firisua, who previously competed at the2016 Summer Olympics in the 5000 metres[18] and2020 Summer Olympics in themarathon for the nation,[19] and middle-distance runnerSteven Rahausi, toWorld Athletics' qualification database for the games without any specified events for either of the two. After the2024 Oceania Athletics Championships inSuva, Fiji, the SIAF tried to submit entries into the database for sprinterJovita Aruina Ambrose andLuke Haga but was too late as the entry dates for the games already passed.[20][21]
As the SIAF missed the deadline, they then contacted theNational Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI), which then contacted theOceania Athletics Association, who in turn told the NOCSI to contact theParis Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The NOCSI then asked World Athletics for further confirmation, with the federation confirming that the only eligible athletics competitor for the nation to qualify at the games would be Firisua as they had already missed the deadline for the submission of other competitors.[21] The SIAF then selected Firisua to compete in thewomen's 100 metres for the games, despite never competing in a distance lower than the1500 metres,[22] as she was the only active competitor in the database and the women's 100 metres was the only event available with a spot for the nation. NOCSI president Martin Rara additionally commented that the organization had to select Firisua to retain the possibility of universality slots for the nation for succeeding games.[21]
Ambrose, the top-ranked sprinter of the nation who had a faster 100 metres time than Firisua, expressed disappointment for not being selected. She was initially hoping to qualify for the games and represent the nation but threatened to quit the sport after not being chosen, stating, "I will not compete anymore because of what they did."[20] TheAustralian Broadcasting Corporation later opined that insiders within the NOCSI considered the selection of Firisua as a "farewell gift" given by the committee as Firisua planned to retire from professional sport.[23] Firisua trained inMelbourne, Australia, for her preparations for the games.[24]
The athletics events were held at theStade de France. Firisua competed in the preliminary rounds of thewomen's 100 meters on 2 August 2024 at 10:59 a.m., where she raced in the fourth round. She ran a time of 14.31 seconds for a personal best as she had never raced in the 100 metres before.[23][25][22] She placed last out of the nine people in her heat and did not advance further,[26] with her time being the slowest ran by any athlete in any of the preliminary rounds. The eventual winner of the event wasJulien Alfred ofSaint Lucia, who won with a time of 10.72 and earned Saint Lucia's first Olympic medal.[27]
Track events
| Athlete | Event | Preliminary | Heat | Semifinal | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | ||
| Sharon Firisua | Women's 100 m | 14.31PB | 9 | Did not advance | |||||
Solomon Islands was eligible for a universality slot to send a swimmer to the games.[8] The nation selectedIsabella Millar, who would compete in thewomen's 50 metre freestyle and be the first female swimmer to compete for Solomon Islands at an Olympic Games.[2][28]
Based inNew South Wales, Australia, Millar trained in a pool near her school. She was coached by Stance Sanga. Millar revealed that her main goal for the games was to beat her personal best of 30.04 seconds set at the2023 Pacific Games.[14][28][29]
Making her Olympic debut, Millar competed in her event on 3 August at 11:05 a.m., which was held in theParis La Défense Arena. She competed in the third of the heats and swam in a time of 31.32 seconds. She placed last out of the eight swimmers in her heat, though she finished with a time not fast enough to progress to later rounds, and placed 67th overall. The eventual winner of the event wasSarah Sjöström ofSweden, who swam with a time of 23.71 seconds.[30][31] After her event, Millar thanked her family, friends and supporters for encouraging her.[32]
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Isabella Millar | Women's 50 m freestyle | 31.32 | 67[b] | Did not advance | |||
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):