| Algeria at the 2016 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | ALG |
| NOC | Algerian Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| in Rio de Janeiro | |
| Competitors | 64 in 13 sports |
| Flag bearer | Sonia Asselah[1] |
| Medals Ranked 62nd |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
| Other related appearances | |
 France (1896–1960) | |
Algeria competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1964, Algerian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, but did not attend the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, because of the African boycott.
The Algerian Olympic Committee fielded a team of 64 athletes, 53 men and 11 women, across thirteen sports at the Games. It was the nation's largest ever delegation sent to the Olympics, breaking the record of 62 athletes, who attended the Beijing Games eight years earlier.[2] Men's football was the only team-based sport in which Algeria had representatives at the Games, returning to the Olympic scene for the first time since 1980. Among the individual-based sports represented by the nation's athletes, Algeria marked its Olympic debut in sailing.
The Algerian team featured twelve returning Olympians, with 37-year-old marathon runner Souad Aït Salem having participated in four Olympic Games as the oldest and most experienced member. Foil fencer Anissa Khelfaoui, along with boxers Abdelhafid Benchabla and Abdelkader Chadi, was among the Algerian athletes headed to their third Olympics, while eight others previously competed in London, including defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi in middle-distance running, former French fencer Victor Sintès, and heavyweight judoka Sonia Asselah, who was selected by the committee to carry the Algerian flag at the opening ceremony, the first by a female in Summer Olympic history.[1][3]
Algeria left Rio de Janeiro with only two silver medals, won by Makhloufi in both the men's 800 and 1500 metres.[4][5]
- ^ a b "JO-2016: la judokate Sonia Asselah porte-drapeau à Rio" [2016 Olympics: Judoka Sonia Asselah will be the flag bearer in Rio] (in French). Algérie Presse Service. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 26 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
- ^ "Le défilé des athlètes Algériens au Maracana à l'ouverture des JO de RIO" [Algerian athletes paraded at the Maracana for the opening of the Rio Olympics]. The Huffington Post (in French). 6 August 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Sonia Asselah, porte-drapeau de la délégation algérienne" [Sonia Asselah, flag bearer for the Algerian delegation] (in French). Horizons. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ^ "Rio Olympics: Algeria's Makhloufi wins 800m silver medal as Rudisha clinches gold". Al Bawaba. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ^ "2016 Olympic Games: Sellal congratulates Taoufik Makhloufi for great achievement". Algérie Presse Service. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.