Organization
On the foundation of the Eritrean Olympic Committee
In 1993, after Eritrea became a member of the United Nations as an independent and sovereign country, it was its right and duty to be part of the international sport community. To be an International Olympic Committee (I.O.C) member, a country must comply with the criterion of having at least five national sports Federations. Because of understood circumstances surrounding that of a young country in its first years of independence engaged in wide national development, Eritrea was lacking ability to set up the required five National Federations. In light of those events an organized venture was undertaken to establish the National Federation of sports to guarantee a platform for the participation of Eritrea in the coming Olympic Games. However, despite numerous initiatives and preparations the country was not able to participate a cycling team in the summer Olympic Games of 1996 held in Atlanta, USA.
To secure the opportunity missed in 1996 and to participate in the then upcoming 2000 Olympic Games, a National Olympic Committee was established in 1996. The existing body, responsible for the administration of various sport events under the supervision of the Ministry of Education organized several members of sport associations with necessary expertise. In the next two years the Eritrean National Olympic Committee opened its head office and went on to establish various National Sport Federations in athletics, volleyball, basketball and football. These measures enabled the committee to officially ensure Eritrea’s membership in the International Olympic Committee in 1998.
Eritrea participated for the first time in the 2000 Olympics hosted in Sydney, Australia. It was represented by athletes like Yonas Kifle, Boleta Asmerom, Nebyat Hatemariam in only athletics. This event was a huge turning point for the sport community in the country.
Despite numerous challenges and fewer athletes in its beginnings, in the subsequent Olympics Eritrea secured a place and name for itself after Eritrean athlete Zerisenay Tadesse won the bronze medal in the 10,000 meter race at the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens. This tremendous success encouraged and paved the way for many Eritrean youth.
(Olympian athlete Zerisenay Tadesse celebrating after winning the bronze medal at the Olympic games in Athens in 2004)
(The Eritrean Olympic team send-off ceremony to London Olympics with His Excellency President Isaias Afeworki in 2012)
As a result, in the Beijing Olympic Games of 2008, Eritrea was represented by athletics team comprising of 12 athletes of whom two were women. In succeeding Olympic Games of London in 2012, in addition to Athletics, Eritrea took part for the first time in the Cycling Olympic Competition represented by the Olympian cyclist Daniel Teklehaimanot. In this memorable Olympics, the athletics team of 12 included a female athlete, who competed in marathon.
Eritrea participated in both athletics and cycling Olympic competitions in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Daniel Tekelhaimaot and Nebyat Habtemariam, a female Olympian athlete and other 12 athletes represented Eritrea in cycling and athletics respectively. In addition to these international opportunities since 2000 various undertakings have been put in place to improve, develop and further the capabilities of the National Eritrean Olympic Committee.
The Eritrean National Olympic Committee was administered by different committees first established in 1996. Subsequently, in 2008 the committee was elected under the supervision of the Eritrean Sport Commission. In 2015, under the directives of Eritrean Commission on Culture and Sport, a four-year term election was instituted and members are elected after thorough evaluations of the past term. Currently, the National Eritrean Olympic Committee is being administered by a five-member executive body elected from the different National Sport Federations in December, 2018.
(The current Eritrean National Olympic Committee Executive members with Commissioner of Culture and Sports Amb. Zemede Tekle and 2017 National Sports Federations Electoral Committee Chairperson Mr. Ghirmay Araya)
ድሕረ ባይታ ምስረታ ኮሚቴ ኦሊምፒክስ ኤርትራ
ኤርትራ ብዘካየደቶ ህዝባዊ ቃልሲ ኣብ 1991 ሓርነታ ድሕሪ ምጉንጻፋን ኣብ 1993 ድማ ከም ልኡላዊት ሃገር ኣካል ማሕበረስብ ዓለም ድሕሪ ምዃናን ነዊሕ ከይጸንሐት ኣብ ማሕበረስብ ስፖርት ዓለም ብወግዒ ክትነጥፍ ጀሚራ። ኣብዚ ናይ ዓለምና ዝዓበየ ስፖርታዊ ኣካል ዝኾነ ኣህጉራዊ ኮሚቴ ኦሊምፒክስ ክትጽንበር እንተኾይና ግን ብዝወሓደ ሓሙሽተ ሃገራውያን ማሕበራት ስፖርት ክትምስርት ነይሩዋ።
ንርዱእ ምኽንያታት ካብ ባዶ ትብገስ ዝነበረት ሃገር ኣብተን ፈለማ ናይ ናጽነት ዓመታት እዚ ቅድመ ኩነት’ዚ ክማላእ ዝከኣል’ኳ እንተዘይነበረ፡ ጎኒ-ጎኒ መደባት ህንጸት ሃገር መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ንስፖርት ብዝሃቦ ቆላሕታን ኣቓልቦን ስዒቡ ምምስራት ሃገራውያን ማሕበራት ስፖርት ዘጣጥሕ ባይታ እናተፈጥረ መጺኡ።
እዚ ምንቅስቓስ ምምስራት ሃገራውያን ፈደረሽናት ስፖርት ኣብቲ ኣብ ክራማት 1996 ኣብ ኣትላንታ (ሕ/መ/ኣመሪካ) ክካየድ ዝተመደበ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ፡ ኤርትራ ብዝወሓደ ብቅድድም ብሽክለታ ትሳተፈሉ ባይታ ንምፍጣር ዝኣክል ጻዕርታትን ምድላዋትን’ኳ እንተተኻየደ፡ ኣባልነት ኤርትራ ኣብ ሓሙሽተ ዓለማውያን ፈደረሽናት ስፖርት ብኣጋ ክረጋገጽ ስለዘይከኣለ፡ ሱታፌ እታ ሃገራዊት ጋንታ ክወሓስ ኣይተኻእለን።
ነዚ ኣብ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ኣትላንታ ዝተኸስረ ዕድል ኣብ 2000 ንምውሓሱ ድማ፡ እቲ ኣብ ትሕቲ ጽላል ሚኒስትሪ ትምህርቲ ንመደባት ስፖርት ዝኣሊ ዝነበረ ቤት ጽሕፈት ስፖርታዊ ጉዳያት ኣብ ስፖርት ኣፍልጦ ዘለዎም ክኢላታት ንምጥርናፍ ብዘካየዶ ጻዕሪ ድማ ኣብ 1996 ሃገራዊ ኮሚቴ ኦሎምፒክስ ኤርትራ ብወግዒ ቈይሙ። ኣብ ዝሰዓበ ክልተ ዓመት ድማ ምዱብ ቤ/ጽሕፈት ብምኽፋትን ናይ ፈደረሽናት ኣትሌቲክስ፡ ኩዕሶ መርበብ፡ ኩዕሶ ሰኪዔትን ኩዕሶ እግርን ሕቶ ኣባልነት ኣብ ዓለማዊ ማሕበራት ስፖርት ስለዝተመለሰን ብ1998 ወግዓዊ ኣባልነት ኤርትራ ኣብ ኣህጉራዊ ኮሚቴ ኦሊምፒክስ ክረጋገጽ ተኻኢሉ።
በዚ መሰረት ኤርትራ ኣብ 2000 ዓ/ም ኣብ ኣውስትራልያ፡ ከተማ ሲድኒ ኣብ ዝተኻየደ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ንፈለማ እዋን ወግዓዊት ተሳታፊት ኮይና፡፡ ኣብዚ ዓለማዊ ውድድር’ዚ ብዓውዲ ኣትሌቲክስ ብኣትሌታት ዮናስ ክፍለ፡ ቦለታ ኣስመሮምን ነብያት ሃብተማርያምን ክትሳተፍ ብምኽኣላ ድማ ኣብ ማሕበረሰብ ስፖርት ሃገርና ከም ነጥበ-መቐይሮ ዝርአ ነይሩ።
ኤርትራ ኣብ 2004 ኣብባቴንስ - ግሪኽ ኣብ ዝተኣንገደ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ንኻልኣይ ግዜኣ እያ ተሳቲፋ። ብዝያዳ ውዳበን ምድላዋትን ሓይላ ብምቕራባ ድማ ብመገዲ ኣትሌት ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ ኣቢላ ኣብ ውድድር 10,000 ሜትሮ ተዓዋቲት ሜዳልያ ነሓስ ክትከውን ክኢላ። እዚ ዓወትዚ ከኣ ኣብ እዋኑ ከምቲ ምስረታ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ንግሪኻውያን ናይ ዋንነትን ሞራልን ተስፋን ስምዒት ዝፈጥረሎም ንኤርትራውያን ብሓፈሻ ሞራልን ፍናንን፡ ንተካእቲ መንእሰያት ስፖርተኛታት ድማ ብኣውራኡ ዕቑር ዓቕሞም ዘርእዩሉን ዝብርብሩሉን ባይታ’ዩ ፈጢሩ።
ተዓዋቲ ነሓስ ሜዳልያ ኦሊምፒክስ ኣቴንስ 2004 ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ
ፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ኣብ ኦሊምፒክስ ለንደን 2012 ንእትሳተፍ ሃገራዊት ጋንታ ኣብ ዘፋነወሉ ኣጋጣሚ
ኣብ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ቤይጂን 2008 ቁጽሪ ተሳተፍቲ ኣትሌታትና ናይ ሚእቲ ሚእታዊት ዕቤት ብምርኣዩ፡ ንስፖርተኛታት ካልእ ሞራል ዝሃበ ኣጋጣሚ ነይሩ። ክልተ ደቀንስትዮ ብዝርከባኦም ዓሰርተ ኣትሌታት ድማ እያ ተሳቲፋ - ኤርትራ። ኣብ ዝሰዓበ ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ለንደን 2012 እውን ኣብ ኤርትራውያን ስፖርተኛታት ካልእ ፍሉይ ኣጋጣሚ ተኸሲቱ ነይሩ። ንፈለማ እዋን ኤርትራ ኣብ ቅድድም ብሽክለታ ኦሊምፒክስ ብተቐዳዳማይ ዳንኤል ተኽለሃይማኖት ኣቢላ ክትውከል ክኢላ እያ። ኣብ ውድድር ኣትሌቲክስ እውን ብተመሳሳሊ ካልኣይቲ ጓለንስተይቲ ኣትሌት ተወዳዳሪት ማራቶን ብምውሳኽ ክልተ ደቀንስትዮ ብዝርከባኦም 14 ስፖርተኛታት ክትሳተፍ ምብቅዓ`ውን ኤርትራ ኣብ ስፖርት ኣውራ ድማ ኣብ ኣትለቲክስን ብሽክለታን ክብርን ተመኩሮን ሞገስን ሞራልን ደሊባ።
ጉጅለ ኦሊምፒክስ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሪዮ 2016 ብዓውድታት ኣትሌቲክስን ቅድድም ብሽክለታን ክትሳተፍ እንከላ፡ ነብያት ሃብተማርያም ብእትርከቦም 14 ኣትሌታት ከምኡ’ውን ብተቐዳዳማይ ብሽክለታ ዳንኤል ተኽለሃይማኖት ተወኪላ ቀሪባ።
ናይ ሎሚ ዓመት ውድድር ኦሊምፒክስ ኣብ ቶክዮ ጃፓን እዩ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ክራማት ክካየድ ተመዲቡ ነይሩ። እንተኾነ ብሰንኪ ኮሮና ቫይረስ ኩለን ሃገራት ክሳተፋ ከምዘይክእላ ስለዝተረጋገጸ፡ ናብ ዝመጽእ ዓመት ኣብ ተመሳሳሊ ወርሒ ክራማት ተሰጋጊሩ ኣሎ።
ብሓፈሻኡ እምበኣር፡ ጎኒ-ጎኒ’ዚ ካብ 2000 ዓ/ም ዝቐጸለ ኣብ ኣህጉራዊ መድረኻት ናይ ምስታፍ ዕድላት - ስሩዕ ምርጫ ኣካየድቲ፡ ኣወዳድባ፡ ዓቕምን ኣሰራርሓን ሃገራዊ ኮሚቴ ኦሊምፒክስ ኤርትራ በብእዋኑ ከምዝዓብን ከምዝመሓየሽን ናይ ምግባር ስራሓት`ውን ክካየድ ጸኒሑ እዩ።
ኣባላት ፈጻሚ ኣካል ሃገራዊ ኮሚቴ ኦሎምፒክስ ምስ ኮሚሽነር ባህልን ስፖርትን ኣምባሳደር ዘመደ ተኽለን ኣቦ-መንበር ኣምራጺት ኮሚቴ ፈደረሽናት ስፖርት መ/ም ግርማይ ኣርኣያን
Eritrean Olympic team at the 2016 Rio Olympiad Flag Raising Ceremony ( 3rd August 2016)
OLYMPICS PHOTO GALLERY
Eritrean National Team
At the 20016 Rio Olympiad Opening Ceremony
(Maracana Stadium, 5th August 2016)
