Athlete Gina Bass, Fye Njie qualify for Rio 2016 Olympic Games

For the first time in the history of The Gambia’s participation to the Summer Olympic Games, two athletes have secured the qualification standard to an Olympic Games.

Sprinter Miss Gina Bass is the first Gambian female athlete to achieve the Olympic qualification standard, having clocked 23.14 in the 200m (a new national record) on Saturday June 4, in Remire Montjoly (French Guyana).

Miss Gina Bass, who is based at the IAAF High Performance Center (HPC) in Dakar, Senegal, through Olympic Solidarity Scholarship from The Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC), was on April voted by  the Sports Journalists Association of The Gambia (SJAG) as the country best Female Athlete in 2015.

The qualified standard set for the Woman 200m to Rio 2016 is 23.20 meaning Miss Gina Bass is the second Gambian Athlete to clock the qualification standard for a summer Olympic Games after Suwaibou Sanneh made it to the last Olympic Games in London 2012 in the 100m.

The Gambia has qualified one Judoka for the men’s lightweight category (73 kg) at the Games, signifying the nation’s Olympic debut in the sport. Faye Njie earned a continental quota spot from the African region as the only Gambian Judoka in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.

Fye Njie, who clinched Silver Medal at the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville after coming behind Egyptian duo of Mohamed Abdelmawgoud and Mohamed Mohyeldin, secured his qualification to Rio 2016 during the African Judo Championship held in April in Tunisia.

The Gambia is set to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016.