Myanmar (Burma) at the Olympics
Myanmar, formerly officially referred to as Burma in international competition, made its Olympic debut in 1948, a year after its national Olympic committee was formed and recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Myanmar was officially called Burma in the Summer Games until the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Since their debut, Myanmar has only missed one Summer Games. This was the 1976 Summer Olympics which was held in Montreal, Canada.
From 1948 to 1972, Myanmar had sent relatively bigger delegations to the Summer Olympics even reaching 18 athletes in the 1972 Munich Games. But when they came back to the Summer Games in 1980, their delegations have considerably shrunk.
The biggest delegation that they had post-1976 was in the 2000 Sydney Olympics where they sent seven athletes to represent them in two sports (Athletics and Swimming). As a matter of fact, boxer Latt Zaw, who competed in the men's lightweight division in Los Angeles, California, USA, was Myanmar's only representative to the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Despite their near perfect attendance record in the Summer Olympics, Burmese athletes are yet to take home their first-ever Olympic medal. Myanmar, like many of her neighboring countries in the Southeast Asian region, has also never participated in the Winter Olympics.
Burma Olympic Trivia
- At the 2012 Olympics, Myanmarwas the third most populous nation (53 million people) to not win a medal after Bangladesh (159 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (72 million).
- At the 2004 Athens Olympics, weight-lifter Nan Aye Khine finished 4th in 48 kilogram weightlifting, but then was banned after testing positive for steroids.
Related Pages
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Myanmar
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