Following its approval by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December 2014, the Kosovo Olympic Committee has announced the names of 8 athletes who will participate in this summer’s Olympic Games.
Rio will mark Kosovo’s first-ever Olympics appearance since declaring its independence as a nation 8 years ago and will be represented by two swimmers, two judokas, two track and field athletes, one shooter and a cyclist.
The swimmers include Lum Zhaveli, who will be racing the 50m freestyle, and Rita Zeqiri who will be competing in the 100m backstroke for Kosovo.
The new nation made its international competitive swimming debut at the 2015 European Championships and made its World Championships debut in Russia last summer, where the country had four participants (two male and two female). Zequiri wound up with a 46th-place finish in the women’s 50 backstroke.
Kosovo, despite only now beginning to officially compete as a nation in international competitions, has some history of influencing swimming. At the 2008 European Championships, in the same year as Kosovo declared independence, Milorad Cavic was suspended for the latter half of the European Championships for wearing a shirt that reads “Kosovo is Serbia” on the medal podium after winning the 50 fly.
Of his nation’s participation in Rio this summer, Kosovo Olympic Committee head Besim Hasani said, “For the first time, we are feeling what it means to be equal among all the other athletes.”
Zeqiri is stated, “Taking part in the first Olympic Games for Kosovo is an honor. I’m prepared well and I will do my best.”
The Kosovo Olympic Committee’s announcement can be read in its entirety here.