| Moldova at the 2016 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| IOC code | MDA |
| NOC | National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Moldova |
| Website | www |
| in Rio de Janeiro | |
| Competitors | 23 in 9 sports |
| Flag bearer | Nicolae Ceban[1] |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
| Other related appearances | |
 Russian Empire (1900–1912) Romania (1924–1936) Soviet Union (1952–1988) Unified Team (1992) | |
Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Moldova fielded a squad of 23 athletes, 14 men and 9 women, across nine different sports at the Games.[2] Although its full roster was larger by a single athlete than in London four years earlier, this was still one of Moldova's smallest delegations sent to the Olympics. Among the sports represented by the nation's athletes, Moldova made its Olympic debut in taekwondo and tennis, as well as a return to sprint canoeing after two decades.
Of the 23 participants, fifteen of them made their Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, including flatwater canoeist Oleg Tarnovschi and his younger brother Serghei, who earned Moldova's first ever gold medal at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing two years earlier.[3] The remaining eight athletes on the Moldovan squad had past Olympic experience, highlighted by hammer thrower Serghei Marghiev and his older sisters Zalina Marghieva and Marina Nichișenco, shot putter Ivan Emilianov, who qualified for his fourth Games as the oldest and most experienced competitor (aged 39), taekwondo fighter Aaron Cook, who transferred his allegiance from Great Britain after controversially failing to make the London Games in 2012, and freestyle wrestler Nicolae Ceban, who reprised his role of leading the Moldovan team for the second time as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1][4]
Moldova originally left Rio de Janeiro with only a bronze medal won by the younger Tarnovschi in the men's C-1 1000 metres.[5] On 19 August 2016, both the International Olympic Committee and International Canoe Federation (ICF) stripped him of his medal for breaching the anti-doping rules, handing it over to the next highest-ranked canoeist Ilia Shtokalov of Russia.[6]
- ^ a b "Wrestler Nicolae Ceban was named as flag bearer of Moldovan delegation at the Olympics". Publika TV. 19 July 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ "Lista sportivilor din R. Moldova calificați la Olimpiada de la Rio 2016" [List of Moldovan athletes qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics] (in Romanian). Radio Chișinău. 31 July 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ "Serghei Tarnovschi: The YOG canoeist making waves for Moldova". Olympics. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ "The Brit who's competing for Moldova in Rio". ITV News. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ "First medal for Moldova at Rio Olympics". Publika TV. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- ^ "Russian canoeist gets Olympic bronze after Moldovan athlete suspended". TASS. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2017.