Mozambique at the Olympics
The Republic of Mozambique established their national Olympic Committee, the Comité Olímpico Nacional de Moçambique (MOZ), in 1978 and the International Olympic Committee officially recognized it the year after. In 1980, they made their first appearance in the Summer Games held in Moscow and have been participating ever since.
Mozambique is relatively new in the Summer Games and they have competed mostly in athletics and swimming. They started participating in boxing in 1988 by sending Archibald Fausto to compete in the men's flyweight division. Those three sports are basically going to be Mozambique's staple participation but they will not win any medal until Maria de Lurdes Mutola came along.
In the 1996 Summer Games held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Mutola competed in the women's 800 meters and took the bronze medal bringing Mozambique its first-ever Olympic medal. In September 25, 2000, she will come back to compete in the same event in Sydney, Australia but this time she made sure that she will win. She won the gold that day bringing her home country its first Olympic gold medal. That win also made her Mozambique's first-ever Olympic multi-medalist.
As with most of the African countries, the Mozambique flag has never flown in the Winter Games.
Related Pages
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Mozambique
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events