This Arab nation is officially referred to as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. They established their national Olympic committee as early as 1957 but was not officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee until 1963. It will even take them longer to participate in their very first Olympic Games. Jordan made its debut in 1980 by sending four athletes (in shooting) to Moscow, USSR.
From that point on, Jordan has participated in every Summer Games held. In 1988, there were two Jordanian taekwondo jins, Ihsan Abu Sheikha and Samer Kamal who did perform quite well and would have earned the bronze medal in Seoul, South Korea but taekwondo at the time was considered as a demonstration sport and not an official Olympic event. It would only be considered as one in the 2000 Sydney Games.
Jordan won their first official Olympic medal in 2016, when taekwondo fighter Ahmad Abu-Ghaush won gold in the men's featherweight category.
Jordan is also yet to participate in a single Winter Olympics, though at the 1992 Albertville Olympics 43-year-old Mohamed Hadid competed for Jordan in the demonstration sport of speed skiing.
Trivia
- Princess Haya of Jordan was on Jordan's Equestrian team in Sydney in 2000 for show jumping and didn't win a medal. She was also the flag bearer for Jordan.
Related Pages
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- Jordan at the Winter Olympics
- About sport in Jordan