Central African Republic at the 1988 Summer Olympics

The Central African Republic competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. This marked the third appearance of the nation at a Summer Olympics. The country entered 15 competitors, the highest number of Central Africans appearing at any Games so far; with the basketball team comprising 12 of them. In addition to the boxers Fidèle Mohinga and Moussa Wiawindi, there was marathon runner Adolphe Ambowodé, who had previously competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. No medals were won by any of those athletes.

Central African Republic at the
1988 Summer Olympics
IOC codeCAF
NOCComité National Olympique et Sportif Centrafricain
in Seoul
Competitors15 in 3 sports
Flag bearer Fidèle Mohinga
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Background

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The Central African Republic made its debut in the Olympic Games at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico.[1] The country has twice boycotted the Olympic Games, first was because of the inclusion of the New Zealand team at the 1976 Summer Olympics despite the breach of the international sports boycott of South Africa by the nation's rugby union team shortly prior.[2] Then in 1980, the country was one of several who joined in with a United States led boycott over the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War.[3] The highest number of Central African athletes entered in a team for an Olympics is 15, occurring at both the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.[1]

Competitors

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The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[4]

Sport Men Women Total
Athletics 1 0 1
Basketball 12 0 12
Boxing 2 2
Total 15 0 15

Athletics

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At his previous appearance the 1984 Summer Olympics, runner Adolphe Ambowodé completed the Men's marathon in a time of 2:41:26, finishing in 70th place.[5] His time in the marathon at the 1988 Games was nearly 18 minutes faster, with the runner finishing in a time of 2:23:52 in 42nd place out of the 98 athletes completing the course.[6] The result was the best performance by a Central African at an athletics so far.[7]

Marathon
Event Athlete Race
Time Rank
Men's marathon Adolphe Ambowodé 2:23:52 42

Basketball

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The Central African team qualified for the Olympics following their victory at the FIBA Africa Championship 1987 in December that year.[8] They were one of two African teams, alongside the basketball squad from Egypt.[9]

Summary

Key:

Team Event Group stage Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Central African Republic men's Men's tournament   South Korea
W 73–70
  Yugoslavia
L 61–102
  Australia
L 67–106
  Puerto Rico
L 67–71
  Soviet Union
L 78–87
5   Egypt
W 63–57
  South Korea
L 81–89
10
Team roster

The following is the Central African Republic roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 1988 Summer Olympics.[10]

Central African Republic men's national basketball team – 1988 Summer Olympics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
4 Sanda Bouba Oumarou 30 – (1958-01-01)1 January 1958 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
5 Aubin-Thierry Goporo 20 – (1968-05-15)15 May 1968 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
6 Joseph-Dieudonné Ouagon 25 – (1962-11-10)10 November 1962 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
F 7 Bruno-Nazaire Kongaouin 21 – (1966-10-12)12 October 1966 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
8 Eugène Pehoua-Pelema 25 – (1963-04-08)8 April 1963 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
9 Guy M'Bongo 19 – (1968-09-23)23 September 1968 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
10 Frédéricque Rufin Goporo 22 – (1966-08-08)8 August 1966 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
11 Jean-Pierre Kotta 32 – (1956-05-03)3 May 1956 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
12 Christian Gombe 26 – (1962-02-22)22 February 1962 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
C 13 Anicet Lavodrama 25 – (1963-07-04)4 July 1963 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
14 Richard Bella 21 – (1967-04-03)3 April 1967 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
15 François Naoueyama 31 – (1957-01-31)31 January 1957 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)

Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 17 September 1988
Group play
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Yugoslavia 5 4 1 468 384 +84 9[a] Quarterfinals
2   Soviet Union 5 4 1 460 393 +67 9[a]
3   Australia 5 3 2 429 408 +21 8[b]
4   Puerto Rico 5 3 2 382 387 −5 8[b]
5   Central African Republic 5 1 4 346 436 −90 6 9th–12th classification round
6   South Korea (H) 5 0 5 384 461 −77 5
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Yugoslavia 1–0 Soviet Union
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Australia 1–0 Puerto Rico
18 September 1988
Central African Republic   73–70   South Korea
Scoring by half: 47–30, 26–40

20 September 1988
Central African Republic   61–102   Yugoslavia
Scoring by half: 21–51, 40–51

21 September 1988
Australia   106–67   Central African Republic
Scoring by half: 57–35, 49–32

23 September 1988
Central African Republic   67–71   Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 41–27, 26–34

24 September 1988
Central African Republic   78–87   Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 31–40, 47–47
Classification round (9th–12th place)
26 September 1988 (1988-09-26)
09:45
Central African Republic   63–57   Egypt
Scoring by half: 33–31, 30–26
Pts: F. Goporo, Bella 15
Rebs: Lavodrama 16
Asts: Lavodrama 7
Pts: Khalil 17
Rebs: Khalil 8
Asts: Amir 4
Classification round (9th/10th place)
29 September 1988
16:30
Central African Republic   81–89   South Korea
Scoring by half: 41–43, 40–46
Pts: Lavodrama 14
Rebs: Lavodrama 12
Asts: Kotta 3
Pts: Lee CH 31
Rebs: Lee MK 8
Asts: Kim HJ 6

Boxing

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The Central African Republic entered two boxers in the tournaments at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Fidèle Mohinga and Moussa Wiawindi. Mohinga competed in the welterweight class, defeating Adão N'Zuzi of Angola in the first round on 20 September. But, he was defeated by Maselino Masoe of American Samoa in the following round, four days later.[11] Wiawindi was defeated in the first round of the light-middleweight tournament by Cameroon's François Mayo.[12]

Boxing
Name Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Fidèle Mohinga Welterweight   N'Zuzi (ANG)
W Points
  Masoe (ASA)
L Points
did not advance
Moussa Wiawindi Light-Middleweight   Mayo (CMR)
L Points
did not advance

Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Central African Republic at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  2. ^ "1976: African countries boycott Olympics". BBC On This Day. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  3. ^ Smith, Terence (20 January 1980). "The President Said Nyet". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  4. ^ Cameroon at the 1988 Summer Olympics
  5. ^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Marathon". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's Marathon". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  7. ^ Grasso, Mallon & Heijmans 2015, p. 74.
  8. ^ "Back in the Day: A Little Bit of Seoul". Basketball Australia. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  9. ^ Wolff, Alexander (18 July 1988). "Continental Contact". Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  10. ^ "1988 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men". FIBA. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Fidèle Mohinga". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Moussa Wiawindi". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

References

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  • Grasso, John; Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (2015). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (5th ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-4859-5.