Background
The Solomon Islands are a group consisting of approximately a thousand islands that serves as home to almost 600,000 people. The island chain was designated a protectorate of the United Kingdom in the 1890s, and remained under British control during World War II, where the island chain was the center of some of the war's worst fighting. In 1976, the Solomon Islands won the right to self-government from the British, and declared independence in 1978. The nation fell into a period of civil instability between then and 2003, when Australia led a military force to restore law and order in the country.
The first Solomon Islander delegation to the Olympics arrived some six years after the nation's independence for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, and was composed of three male athletes competing in two sports. The island nation continued to send delegations to the Olympics throughout its era of civil disorder; delegations from the Solomon Islands appeared at all seven Summer Olympic games prior to (and including) the Beijing games of 2008. The first women represented the Solomon Islands at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The largest delegations from the Solomon Islands included four athletes and appeared in 1988 and 1996. Up to and including the Beijing games, there had not been a Solomon Islander who had won a medal at the Olympics.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics, three athletes (one male and two female) participated across two sports in three distinct events. Pauline Kwalea, the year's female sprinter, was the youngest member of the delegation at 20 years old. Male sprinter Francis Manioru, at 26 years old, was the oldest. Weighlifter Wendy Hale bore the flag of the Solomon Islands at the ceremonies.
Read more about this topic: Solomon Islands At The 2008 Summer Olympics
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