Luxembourg at the 2016 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:LUX
Nocname:Luxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee
Games:Summer Olympics
Year:2016
Website: 
Location:Rio de Janeiro
Competitors:10
Sports:5
Flagbearer:Gilles Müller[1]
Gold:0
Silver:0
Bronze:0
Appearances:auto

Luxembourg competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1900, Luxembourgish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games throughout the modern era, with the exception of the sparsely attended 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympics, and the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles at the period of the worldwide Great Depression.

Luxembourg Olympic and Sporting Committee selected a team of 10 athletes to compete in five sports at the Games.[2] The nation's roster in Rio de Janeiro was also a replication to those sent to Athens 2004, but had an equal share between men and women with five each. Among the sports represented by the athletes, Luxembourg staged its Olympic comeback in track and field from a 12-year absence.

The Luxembourg team featured six returning Olympians. Five of them competed at London 2012, with the exception of professional road cyclist Fränk Schleck, who staged an eight-year comeback to his third and final Olympic circuit in Rio de Janeiro before retiring from the sport.[3] Other notable Luxembourgian athletes were swimmers Raphaël Stacchiotti and Laurent Carnol, table tennis player and four-time Olympian Ni Xialian, and world no. 44 tennis player Gilles Müller, who led the team as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1]

Luxembourg, however, failed to win its first Olympic medal, since the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where middle-distance runner Josy Barthel took home the men's 1500 m title.

Athletics

See main article: article, Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Luxembourgish athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event), signifying the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since 2004:[4] [5]

Track & road events
AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
Charles GrethenMen's 800 m1:48.935Did not advance
Charline MathiasWomen's 800 m2:09.308Did not advance

Cycling

See main article: article, Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification.

Road

Luxembourgish riders qualified for the following quota places in the men's and women's Olympic road race by virtue of their best individual ranking in the 2015 UCI World Tour (for men) and top 22 national finish in the 2016 UCI World Ranking (for women).[6] [7]

AthleteEventTimeRank
Fränk SchleckMen's road race6:13:3620
Chantal HoffmannWomen's road raceDid not finish
align=left rowspan=2Christine MajerusWomen's road race3:56:3418
Women's time trial48:16.1722

Swimming

See main article: article, Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Luxembourgish swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[8] [9]

AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
align=left rowspan=2Laurent CarnolMen's 100 m breaststroke1:00.88=27Did not advance
Men's 200 m breaststroke2:11.9421Did not advance
align=left rowspan=3Raphaël StacchiottiMen's 100 m freestyle50.7947Did not advance
Men's 200 m individual medley2:00.2121Did not advance
Men's 400 m individual medley4:20.3723Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2Julie MeynenWomen's 50 m freestyle25.1226Did not advance
Women's 100 m freestyle55.0925Did not advance

Table tennis

See main article: article, Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Luxembourg has entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Remarkably going to her fifth Olympics, Ni Xialian granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the women's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.[10]

Tennis

See main article: article, Tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Luxembourg has entered one tennis player into the Olympic tournament. London 2012 Olympian Gilles Müller (world no. 44) qualified directly for the men's singles as one of the top 56 eligible players in the ATP World Rankings as of June 6, 2016.[11] [12]

Notes and References

  1. News: Gilles Muller porte-drapeau du Luxembourg. Gilles Müller will be Luxembourg's flag bearer. fr. Luxemburger Wort. 5 August 2016. 5 August 2016.
  2. News: Who is going to Rio from Luxembourg?. https://web.archive.org/web/20160807035351/http://www.wort.lu/en/sport/10-athletes-represent-luxembourg-at-rio-olympic-games-who-is-going-to-rio-from-luxembourg-57a1a010ac730ff4e7f64740. dead. 7 August 2016. Luxemburger Wort. 5 August 2016. 25 September 2016.
  3. News: Luxembourg's Fränk Schleck to hang up his helmet. Luxemburger Wort. 5 August 2016. 25 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160927014900/http://www.wort.lu/en/sport/cycling-luxembourg-s-fraenk-schleck-to-hang-up-his-helmet-57a439d1ac730ff4e7f648d4. 27 September 2016. dead.
  4. Web site: iaaf.org – Top Lists. IAAF. 18 April 2015.
  5. Web site: IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Rio 2016 Entry Standards. IAAF. 18 April 2015.
  6. News: UCI announces men's road Olympic quotas. Cyclingnews.com. 18 January 2016. 20 January 2016.
  7. News: UCI announce women's road cycling quotas for Rio Olympics. Cyclingnews.com. 1 June 2016. 2 June 2016.
  8. Web site: Swimming World Rankings . . 14 March 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110106131744/http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=805 . 6 January 2011 .
  9. News: Rio 2016 – FINA Swimming Qualification System . . . . 23 January 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150221025939/http://www.fina.org/H2O/docs/events/rio2016/2014-07%20-%20Rio%202016%20-%20Qualification%20System%20-%20FINAL%20-%20Swimming%20-%20EN.pdf . 21 February 2015 .
  10. News: Ni Xia Lian qualifiée pour les JO à Rio. Ni Xialian qualified for the Rio Olympics. fr. L'essentiel. 22 May 2016. 25 May 2016.
  11. News: ITF announces entries for Rio 2016 Olympics. International Tennis Federation. 30 June 2016. 1 July 2016.
  12. News: Luxembourg's Gilles Muller directly qualifies for Rio. Luxemburger Wort. 6 June 2016. 8 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170407042442/http://www.wort.lu/en/sport/olympics-2016-luxembourg-s-gilles-muller-directly-qualifies-for-rio-5755154eac730ff4e7f61891. 7 April 2017. dead. dmy-all.