Syria first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948. Syrian diver Zouheir Shourbagi, the sole competitor, placed 10th in the men's platform.[1] Syria then missed the next four Olympiads (though in 1960 the nation competed with Egypt as part of the United Arab Republic). Syria returned to the Games in 1968, and has sent athletes to compete in all but one Summer Olympic Games, missing the 1976 Games. Syria has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games.

Syria at the
Olympics
IOC codeSYR
NOCSyrian Olympic Committee
Websitewww.syriaolymp.org (in Arabic and English)
Medals
Ranked 109th
Gold
1
Silver
1
Bronze
2
Total
4
Summer appearances
Other related appearances
 United Arab Republic (1960)

The National Olympic Committee of Syria was created in 1948 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 31 January 1948, at the IOC Session in Sankt Moritz. Syrian athletes have won a total of four medals, in four sports: Athletics, Freestyle wrestling, Weightlifting and Boxing.

History

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Freestyle wrestling 100 kg medal ceremony at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Syrian silver medalist Joseph Atiyeh first from left.

Syria first participated as an independent nation at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. At Rome in 1960, it participated as part of the United Arab Republic. It split its alliance with Egypt in 1961 and did not compete in Tokyo in 1964.[2]

Syria returned to the Olympics in Mexico in 1968 for the first time and missed only at Montreal in 1976. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Syria had won its first Olympic medal when Joseph Atiyeh won silver in the freestyle wrestling.[3] During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ghada Shouaa won Syria's first gold medal in heptathlon with a total of 6,780 points.[4]

Syria also achieved the third medal in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and it was a bronze medal by the national boxer Nasser al-Shami in the sport of boxing.[5] Finally, the fourth medal was achieved by national weightlifter Man Asaad in the weightlifting competitions, as it was a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Medal tables

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Medals by Summer Games

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Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1948 London 1 0 0 0 0 -
1952 Helsinki did not participate
1956 Melbourne
1960 Rome as part of   United Arab Republic (RAU)
1964 Tokyo did not participate
1968 Mexico City 2 0 0 0 0 -
1972 Munich 5 0 0 0 0 -
1976 Montreal did not participate
1980 Moscow 67 0 0 0 0 -
1984 Los Angeles 9 0 1 0 1 33
1988 Seoul 13 0 0 0 0 -
1992 Barcelona 9 0 0 0 0 -
1996 Atlanta 7 1 0 0 1 49
2000 Sydney 8 0 0 0 0 -
2004 Athens 6 0 0 1 1 71
2008 Beijing 8 0 0 0 0 -
2012 London 10 0 0 0 0 -
2016 Rio de Janeiro 7 0 0 0 0 -
2020 Tokyo 6 0 0 1 1 86
2024 Paris 6 0 0 0 0 -
2028 Los Angeles future event
2032 Brisbane
Total 1 1 2 4 107

Medals by sport

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SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
  Athletics1001
  Wrestling0101
  Boxing0011
  Weightlifting0011
Totals (4 entries)1124

List of medalists

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Medal Name Games Sport Event
  Silver Joseph Atiyeh 1984 Los Angeles   Wrestling Men's freestyle 100 kg
  Gold Ghada Shouaa 1996 Atlanta   Athletics Women's heptathlon
  Bronze Nasser Al Shami 2004 Athens   Boxing Men's heavyweight
  Bronze Man Asaad 2020 Tokyo   Weightlifting Men's 109+kg

Flagbearers

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Summer Olympics
Games Athlete Sport
1948 London Zouheir Shourbagi Diving
1952 Helsinki did not participate
1956 Melbourne
1960 Rome as part of   United Arab Republic (RAU)
1964 Tokyo did not participate
1968 Mexico City Mahmoud Balah Wrestling
1972 Munich Mounzer Khatib Shooting
1976 Montreal did not participate
1980 Moscow Jihad Naim Shooting
1984 Los Angeles Joseph Atiyeh Wrestling
1988 Seoul Hafez El-Hussein Athletics
1992 Barcelona Dennis Atiyeh Wrestling
1996 Atlanta Ghada Shouaa Athletics
2000 Sydney Moutassem Ghotouq Head of mission
2004 Athens Mohammad Hazzory Athletics
2008 Beijing Ahed Joughili Weightlifting
2012 London Majd Eddin Ghazal Athletics
2016 Rio de Janeiro Majd Eddin Ghazal Athletics
2020 Tokyo Ahmad Hamcho
Hend Zaza
Equestrian
Table tennis
2024 Paris Amre Hamcho
Alisar Youssef
Equestrian
Athletics

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Biography". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  2. ^ Games of the XVII Olympiad, Rome 1960 : the official report of the Organizing Committee Organizing Committee of the Games of the XVII Olympiad, v. 1 (pages 828-830)
  3. ^ Paul Reinhard (25 July 1984). "Joe Atiyeh will wrestle for Syria to compete at 198 pounds the road to Los Angeles". The Morning Call.
  4. ^ Christel Saneh (15 September 2021). "Ghada Shouaa: The only Olympic gold medallist for Syria". World Athletics. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Syria participates in the London Olympics with 10 athletes, led by equestrian Ahmed Hamsho". France 24/France 24 (in Arabic). 4 July 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Weightlifter Man Asaad Wins Bronze for Syria at the Tokyo Olympics". Al Bawaba. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
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