Gambia’s Olympic dream ends

The Gambia’s hopes of clinching their maiden silverware in Olympic Games have come to an end over the weekend when the last of their three athletes in the on-going Beijing Games failed to go beyond the preliminary round of the athletics competition.

Fatou Tiyana followed fellow athlete Suwaibou Sanneh and boxer Badou Jack on the sideline after her 12.25 was way too slow to ease her into the top 40 for the women’s 100 metres second round. The Gambia’s sole female athlete in the Beijing Games finished 58th in her over all position on Saturday.

With Badou out of the competition since losing his preliminary bout and Suwaibou and Tiyana following suit, the Gambian delegation, headed by George Gomez, will spend the last few days of the Games as spectators waiting for the closing ceremony.

The Gambian has never won an Olympic medal of any colour (gold, silver or bronze) even though the country has been participated in every Olympic Games since 1986.