Eritrea (ERI)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted provisional recognition to the National Olympic Committee for Eritrea in 1998 and full recognition followed in 1999. Eritrea was the northernmost province of Ethiopia until it became independent in May 1993. Prior to Eritrean independence, several of their athletes competed for Ethiopia at the Olympics. Eritrea first competed at the Olympics in 2000 at Sydney, represented by two male and one female runners in track & field athletics. In 2004, Zersenay Tadesse won a bronze medal for Eritrea in the men’s 10,000 metres run. Through 2012, Eritrean athletes have only competed in track & field athletics at the Olympics, represented by 22 men and 3 women, and a single cyclist, Daniel Teklehaymanot, who competed in 2012 and 2016. In 2018 Shannon Ogbani-Abeda was Eritrea’s first competitor at the Olympic Winter Games, in Alpine skiing.