Bolivia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
IOC code	BOL
NOC	Bolivian Olympic Committee
Website	www.cobol.org.bo (in Spanish)
inBeijing
Competitors	7 in5 sports
Flag bearer	César Menacho
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1936 1948–1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Bolivia sent a delegation to compete at the2008 Summer Olympics, held inBeijing,China. The South American country's delegation was the fifteenth Summer Olympic team and seventeenth overall Olympic team overall sent by the country. Bolivia's National Olympic Committee sent seven athletes–three women and four men–across five sports and seven distinct events. A substantial number of the athletes originated in southern Bolivian cities, most notablySanta Cruz de la Sierra. All athletes except for cyclistHoracio Gallardo finished their events, although no medals were won by the country at these Games (or at any Games up to this point, summer or winter). Trap shooterCésar Menacho was the Bolivian flag bearer at the ceremonies.

The Bolivian delegation that traveled to Beijing consisted of the following seven athletes:^[1]

Bolivia is a landlocked, predominantly mountainous nation in centralSouth America that is inhabited mainly by Amerindian peoples. The nation of 10 million people lies to the southwest ofBrazil, to the northwest ofParaguay, to the north ofArgentina and ofChile, and to the east ofPeru. Bolivia was originally colonized by the Spanish, and broke away from the Spanish Empire in 1825. The nation endured a period of instability that consisted of nearly 200 coups between then and 1982, when a popularly elected democratic government came into power.^[2] The first Bolivian delegation to the Olympics appeared 46 years before the arrival of democracy in Bolivia, when two men competed at the1936 Summer Olympics inBerlin,Nazi Germany. However, Bolivian athletes did not return to the Olympics afterwards until the1964 Summer Olympics inTokyo, Japan. The size of the Bolivian delegation has increased steadily since that time, and has peaked several times—most notably at the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona,Spain, when 13 athletes arrived to represent their country across six sports. The first female Bolivian Olympian competed in the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles, USA. Bolivian athletes competed at fifteen Summer Olympic games (and seventeen Olympic games of any kind) by the end of the Beijing games, missing the 1948–1960 and 1980 games.^[3]

Seven athletes competed in the Beijing Olympics on Bolivia's behalf. More than half the delegation was more than 30 years old, with the eldest athlete being trap shooterCésar Menacho at age 43 and the youngest being 26-year-old swimmerMiguel Navarro. Four of the athletes were male and three were female, and the athletes competed across five distinct events (track and field, cycling, shooting, swimming, weightlifting).^[4] In its history up to and including Beijing's Olympic games, there has been no Bolivian athlete who has won a medal in any event. Menacho was selected as flagbearer for the ceremonies.^[3]

Fadrique Ignacio Iglesias Mendizábal competed in the men's 800 meters races at Beijing while representing Bolivia. Born inCochabamba, a major Bolivian city in the center of the country, Iglesias was 23 years old when he competed in the same event at the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens,Greece.^[5] During the qualification round of the men's 800 meters, which took place on August 20, Iglesias competed in the sixth heat against seven other athletes. He finished the race in 1:50.57, placing seventh in his heat.Yemen'sMohammed Al-Yafaee placed immediately behind Iglesias (1:54.82), whileCanada'sAchraf Tadili placed sixth (1:48.87) in a heat led byMorocco'sAmine Laalou (1:47.86) andUganda'sAbraham Chepkirwok (1:47.93). Of the 58 athletes who finished the event, Fadrique Iglesias placed 53rd. He did not advance to later rounds.^[6]

Sonia Calizaya Huanca competed on Bolivia's behalf in the women's marathon, and was the only female Bolivian track athlete at the Beijing games. Born in thede facto Bolivian capital ofLa Paz, Calizaya competed in Beijing at the age of 32. She had not previously competed at any earlier Olympic games.^[7] During the course of the marathon, which took place on August 16, Calizaya competed against 81 other athletes. Of those, 68 finished. Calizaya finished the race in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 53 seconds, placing 59th out of the 69. In comparison, gold medalistConstantina Diță ofRomania finished the race in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 44 seconds, and 69th place finalistOksana Sklyarenko ofUkraine completed the marathon in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 39 seconds.^[8]

Men

Women

Horacio "Torpedo" Gallardo Burgos competed in the Beijing Olympics on Bolivia's behalf as its only road cyclist. He competed in the men's individual road race. Born in the southern town of San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarija, Gallardo was 27 years old at the time of his competition in Beijing. Gallardo had not previously competed at any Olympic games. He competed in the men's individual road race, which took place on the 8th of August.^[9] The competition included 143 cyclists, with 90 finishing the race; Gallardo was one of the 53 competitors who did not finish the race.^[10]

César David Menacho Flores was the sole Bolivian competitor in shooting events at the Beijing Olympics. A competitor in men's trap shooting, Menacho was born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and was 43 years old at the Beijing Games. Menacho had not previously competed in any Olympic events.^[11] On August 9, during the event's preliminary round, Menacho faced 34 other athletes.^[12] The preliminary round consisted of five rounds, with Menacho scoring 24; 22; 21; 18; and 21, respectively, during these rounds. He did not advance to the final, posting a total point score was 106,^[11] placing Menacho in 34th place between last-place finalistEric Ang of thePhilippines and 33rd place finalistAlberto Fernandez ofSpain at the 2008 Summer Olympics, both of whom also finished with a score of 106. In comparison, theCzech Republic's gold medalistDavid Kostelecky finished the final round at 146 points.^[12]

Men

Katerine Moreno de Quintanilla competed on Bolivia's behalf in the women's 50 meters freestyle. Born in the metropolis ofSanta Cruz de la Sierra in the central-southern region of the country, Moreno first competed at the Olympics at age 14 in the1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where she competed in the women's 50 meters freestyle, 100 meters freestyle, 100 meters backstroke and 100 meters breaststroke. She later qualified for the2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, in the women's 100 meters breaststroke. Moreno returned in the2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece in the same event. The Bolivian swimmer was 34 when she raced in Beijing, marking her fourth Olympic appearance and seventh Olympic competition.^[13] During the preliminary round, Moreno competed in heat four against seven other athletes. She finished fourth with a time of 29.05 seconds, placing ahead ofMongolia'sDashtserengiin Saintsetseg (29.63 seconds) and behindAmerican Samoa'sVirginia Farmer (28.82 seconds), in a heat led byMozambique'sXimene Gomes (28.15 seconds) andSwaziland'sSenele Dlamini (28.70 seconds). Of the 90 finishing athletes, Moreno placed 64th. She did not advance to later rounds.^[14]

Miguel Ángel Navarro competed on Bolivia's behalf in the men's 100 meters freestyle event. Born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Navarro competed in Beijing at the age of 26. He had not previously competed at any Olympic games.^[15] During the course of the event's preliminary round, which took place on August 12, Navarro competed in the first heat against two other athletes. He completed the event in 56.96 seconds, placing second between the heat winnerEmile Rony Bakale of theRepublic of the Congo (55.08 seconds) and last placedSofyan El Gadi ofLibya (57.89 seconds) Overall Navarro ranked 63rd of 64 competitors that competed in the event. Therefore, he did not progress further.^[16]

Men

Women

María Teresa Monasterio competed in themiddleweight class (63 kilograms or less) of weightlifting on Bolivia's behalf during the Beijing Olympics. Monasterio was Bolivia's only weightlifter during these Olympics. Born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Monasterio entered the Beijing competitions at the age of 38.^[17] The female competition for Monasterio's weight class took place on August 12 between 20 competitors.^[18] Duringsnatches, the Bolivian successfully lifted 60 kilograms on her first attempt and 63 kilograms on her second, and unsuccessfully attempted 65 kilograms on her third. She then successfully lifted 75 kilograms and 78 kilograms in her first twoclean and jerk attempts, and unsuccessfully attempted 80 kilograms on her third and final try. Her final score, the combination of her highest snatch and clean and jerk weights, was 141 kilograms.^[17] 17 athletes successfully finished, with the Bolivian athlete finishing last of those.Tunisia'sHanene Ourfelli ranked immediately ahead of Monasterio (175 kilograms). In comparison, gold medalistPak Hyon Suk ofNorth Korea lifted 241 kilograms.^[18]

• Bolivia at the 2007 Pan American Games

• Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Bolivia at the Summer Olympics by year
• 2008 in Bolivian sport

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with Spanish-language sources (es)