Nauru at The 2008 Summer Olympics - Qualification

Qualification

Nauru earned a qualification place in weightlifting in the International Weightlifting Federation's continental Olympic qualification event—Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships—held in Auckland, New Zealand from March 27 to 30, 2008. At the event only those National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Oceania which had not gained berths for 2008 Olympics in the 2006 and 2007 World Weightlifting Championships got chance to win qualification places. Itte Detenamo was selected over Yukio Peter to fill the earned quota. Nauru could have sent participants in swimming and athletics also, but chose not to as there was no national governing body of swimming and the nation lacked basic infrastructure and competitive athletes in order to complete in athletics.

Nauru's representation of sole athlete in the 2008 Games was the same number of athletes as at the 1996 Olympics, when Marcus Stephen—incumbent President of Nauru, President of the Nauru Olympic Committee and Oceania Weightlifting Federation—represented the country in the same sport. Marcus had previously competed for Samoa in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona as Nauru was not recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a National Olympic Committee until 1994. The attendance at the 2008 games was a decrease from the nation's previous appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to Athens.