At the age of 28, Ambwene Simukonda made her first appearance at the Olympics, and was the oldest competitor to be selected by the Malawi team. She qualified for the Games via a wildcard, as her best time of 54.32 seconds, was 2.12 seconds slower than the "B" qualifying standard, for her event, the women's 400 metres. Simukonda participated in the event's first round in its fifth heat on 3 August, finishing fifth out of six competitors, with a time of 54:20 seconds, achieving a new Malawian national record. Overall Simukonda finished 37th out of 45 athletes, and was eliminated because she was 1.97 seconds slower than the slowest competitor in her heat who advanced to the semi-finals.