page_title: Equatorial Guinea at the 2000 Summer Olympics
section_title: Athletics
hierarchical_section_title: Equatorial Guinea at the 2000 Summer Olympics / Athletics
caption_attribution_description: Homebush stadium
context_page_description: Equatorial Guinea participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, which was held from 15 September to 1 October 2000. The country's participation in Sydney marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included one middle-distance runner, one short-distance sprinter and two swimmers: José Luis Ebatela Nvo, Mari Paz Mosanga Motanga, Eric Moussambani and Paula Barila Bolopa respectively. All four athletes qualified for the games through wildcard places. Moussambani was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. The four athletes were unable to advance beyond the first rounds of their respective events, with Moussambani and Bolopa attracting attention for their poor performances, but were applauded by the crowds.
context_section_description: José Luis Ebatela Nvo was the oldest person to represent Equatorial Guinea at the Sydney Summer Games at the age of 27. He had not participated in any previous Olympic Games. Nvo qualified for the Games through a wildcard place because his fastest time of four minutes and 15.22 seconds, recorded in the Equatorial Guinean capital of Malabo on 27 April 1998, was 35.72 seconds slower than the "B" qualifying standard for his event, the men's 1500 metres. In an interview before the Games he said entering the Olympics was the culmination of his career regardless of his finishing position. Nvo was drawn in the competition's second heat on 25 September, finishing 13th (and last) out of all athletes, with a time of four minutes and 6.14 seconds. He finished 40th overall out of all the finishing runners, and did not advance to the semi-finals because he was 15.18 seconds slower than the slowest athlete who made the later stages.
  At the age of 17, Mari Paz Mosanga Motanga was the youngest person to take part for Equatorial Guinea in the Sydney Olympic Games, and made her first appearance in the quadrennial event. Like Nvo, she qualified for the Games by using a wildcard because her quickest time of 13.62 seconds, set at the 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics, was 2.02 seconds slower than the "B" qualifying standard for her event, the women's 100 metres. She took part in the contest's first heat in the first round on 23 September, finishing seventh out of eight competitors, with a time of 12.91 seconds. As the first three finishers of each heat and the next two quickest progressed to the next round Motanga was eliminated and placed 75th out of 84 entrants. After her heat ended, Motanga stated that while she would have preferred to have clinched the victory, she had to be realistic and was now able to compare her time with the remainder of the world.
caption: The Sydney Olympic Stadium where Nvo and Motanga competed in athletics events
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