Nauru (NRU)

Nauru’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 1994 Olympic Congress, after having been given provisional recognition earlier in 1994. Nauru first competed in the Olympic Games in 1996, and they have since competed at all editions of the Summer Games, but they have never participated in the Winter Olympics. Until 2008, all of its athletes competed in weightlifting; they have since had one track-and-field and two judoka Olympians.

Nauru has never won an Olympic medal. Their top athlete, Yukio Peter, placed eighth in the 2004 men’s lightweight event. However, the tiny nation’s best-known Olympian is Marcus Stephen. He represented Western Samoa at the 1992 Games due to the absence of a Nauruan NOC, which he later helped to found. In 1996 and 2000, Stephen competed for Nauru. In 2007, he was elected President of the island nation.