Malawi first competed in the Summer Olympics at the 1972 Games in Munich, Germany. They participated on ten occasions prior to the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where they made their Summer Paralympics debut in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the expectation of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1980 Summer Games in the Soviet Union, the former because of a boycott relating to the New Zealand national rugby union team touring South Africa, and the latter because the country joined the United States-led boycott over the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. Malawi intended to make its first appearance in the Summer Paralympics at the 2012 Games in London but withdrew hours before the opening ceremony started because of a lack of funding. The country participated in the Rio Paralympic Games from 7 to 18 September 2016. Malawi was one of six countries to make their first appearance in the quadrennial event; the others were Aruba, Congo, Somalia, São Tomé and Príncipe and Togo. They sent a single middle-distance runner, Taonere Banda, who was announced by the Malawi Paralympics Committee on 4 July, and was occupied by her coach George Luhanga. Banda was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony.