Since its first participation in the 1964 Olympics, Tanzania, an East African country, has secured only two silver medals, both in athletics during the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

It took Tanzania 16 years to win its first medals at the Summer Games, and fast forward to 2024, the country has yet to replicate that success.

The only medals Tanzania holds are the two silver medals won by Suleiman Nyambui in the men’s 5000 meters and Filbert Bayi in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase.

A gold medal has remained elusive for Tanzania, and with the close of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the nation marks a 50-year dry spell without any new medals.

In the Paris edition, Tanzania who made a 15th appearance, stands as the only East African nation to participate in the 30th Olympics and return home without a medal.

Tanzania’s neighbors, Kenya, finished the Paris 2024 Olympics with an impressive total of 11 medals: 4 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze, securing the 17th position overall. Uganda, on the other hand, earned one gold medal and one silver medal, placing 55th.

Team Tanzania had a total of 18 participants competing across three disciplines: Athletics, Judo, and Swimming. In Athletics, Tanzania fielded four athletes in long-distance running: Alphonce Felix Simbu and Gabriel Geay for the men, and Jackline Juma Sakilu and Magdalena Crispin Shauri for the women. The team also included one male Judoka, Andrew Thomas Mlugu, and two swimmers, Sophia Anisa Latiff (50m freestyle, women’s category) and Collins Phillip Saliboko (100m freestyle, men’s category).

Many Tanzanian’s hope of breaking the jinx hangs on addressing a plethora of issues such as Poor funding funding , poor organization and the dwindling number of participants in such events.

ALSO READ:Tanzania, a nation that has never won an AFCON match