This year, the Maldives saw its largest Olympic contingent, competing in the most sports to date.
Maldivian swimmer Aishath Ulya Shaig concluded this year’s Olympics for the Maldives by competing in the 50m freestyle event.
In the fourth heat of yesterday’s swimming event, Ulya swam with a time of 29.39 seconds.
Ulya was joined by eight swimmers, with Gabon's Lacour topping the fourth heat with a time of 27.68 seconds. However, this was not enough to qualify for the semi-finals.
The average time of the 16 semi-finalists was about 24 seconds.
Swimming experts noted that Ulya's timing is commendable. On February 17 this year, the 21-year-old broke a 17 year old national record by swimming the 50m freestyle in 29.47 seconds at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Under Universality Places, Ulya secured her spot in the Olympics by clocking in at 29.29 seconds in the 50m freestyle long course event at the Asian Age Group Championships in the Philippines held 10 days later.
She was just a few seconds off breaking the record at the Olympics.
This year, the Maldives saw its largest Olympic contingent, competing in the most sports to date. Five athletes competed in four sports: two male and three female athletes, all of whom showed promising performances.
In the men's 50m freestyle, swimmer Mohamed Aan Hussain finished third in his heat and broke the national record.
Sprinter Ibadulla Adam set his own personal record in the 100m sprint.
Women's badminton player Aminath Nabaha Abdul Razzaq became the first Maldivian athlete to represent the country in two separate Olympics, having previously competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
In this year's tournament, she faced India's top badminton player PV Sindhu, who has won gold in both the last two Olympics. She also had a strong performance against Estonia's Kristin Kuuba in the second match.
Additionally, table tennis player Fathimath Dheema Ali represented the Maldives as the first athlete to qualify for the Olympics after winning a qualifying match. Sixteen-year-old Dheema kicked off the table tennis event by competing against Katarzyna Wegrzyn from Poland.
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