Cambodia, which is represented by the

National Olympic Committee of Cambodia The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia ( km, គណៈកម្មាធិការជាតិអូឡាំពិកកម្ពុជា, ) is a National Olympic Committee representing Cambodia. External links National Olympic Committee ...

(NOCC), competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Six Cambodian athletes competed in the disciplines of track and field athletics, swimming, taekwondo, and judo.

Background

Since their first appearance in

equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics The equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm due to the Australian quarantine regulations and included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The compet ...

, Cambodia has sent 37 participants to seven editions of the Summer

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, making 2012 their fifth consecutive Games and eighth overall. Athletes from Cambodia have competed in seven distinct sports since 1956, although since 2000 their delegation has consisted of only track and field athletes and

swimmers Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. The nation has never participated in the Winter Olympics nor has it ever won a medal. Four Cambodian athletes received special scholarships from the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

(IOC) to help them qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics: Chov Sotheara, who won wrestling gold at the

2009 Southeast Asian Games ) , Nations participating = 11 , Athletes participating = 3100 , Events = 372 in 25 sports , Opening ceremony = 9 December 2009 , Closing ceremony = 18 December 2009 , Officially opened by = Choummaly Sayason ...

, Sorn Davin, a silver medalist in taekwondo at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, Phal Sophat, who captured a silver medal in boxing at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games, and athlete Sar Choub Veasna. Both Davin and Sotheara failed to qualify through normal means and thus required a wild card bid from the IOC. Cambodia received a wild card for taekwondo in April 2012, which was given to Davin. The

(NOCC) also nominated Ratanakmony Khom, a silver medalist in judo at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, and athlete Kheang Samon for wild card spots. Ratnakmony received his invitation to attend the Games in June 2012.

Athletics

In March 2012 the NOCC announced that Japanese comedian

Neko Hiroshi , more commonly known as , is a Cambodian ''owarai'' comedian who uses his short stature, at and , and cat persona in his act. He is also an avid marathon runner. In 2011, he became a naturalized citizen of Cambodia, and intended to compete in th ...

had been nominated to represent Cambodia in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the 2012 Olympics, having been chosen for a "special exemption" after no Cambodian athletes met the qualifying standard. Hiroshi, a naturalized Cambodian citizen since 2011, had participated in half-marathons held in Cambodia for over a year and reached the podium at least twice, earning him a national fan base. He received criticism from, among others, Japanese double Olympic marathon medalist

Yuko Arimori is a Japanese professional marathon runner and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Career Arimori competed for Japan in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain in the marathon where she won the silve ...

, whose charity helps develop and train Cambodian athletes in addition to funding their journeys to international competitions. Opponents of Hiroshi's selection for the Olympic Games claim that there are Cambodian-born athletes more deserving of the special exemption, such as Hem Bunting who has won two long-distance medals at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

since 2007. The

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

rejected his nomination, however, on the grounds that Hiroshi was ineligible to compete internationally until October 2012, as individuals with new nationalities must wait one year from the date of their citizenship before they can represent the nation on the world stage. They also refused to wave this requirement for Hiroshi, deciding that it was not a circumstance that warranted such an action. Chan Seyha, who competed in the

200 metre The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

event at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

, ran in the same distance at the 2012 Olympics and Samorn Kieng participated in the men's 800m event. ;Men ;Women

Judo

Ratanakmony Khom, a silver medalist at the

2011 Southeast Asian Games The 2011 Southeast Asian Games, ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara 2011) officially known as the 26th Southeast Asian Games, or the 26th SEA Games, and commonly known as Jakarta-Palembang 2011, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from ...

in the men's 50–55 kg judo competition, represented Cambodia in the men's 60 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Swimming

Hemthon Vitiny, who competed in the women's 50 metre freestyle event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

participated in the same event at the 2012 Games. Cambodia had one more guaranteed spot for a swimmer in their delegation, which was taken by Ponloeu Hemthon, who competed in the men's 50 metre freestyle. ;Men ;Women

Taekwondo

Cambodia was given a wild card entrant for taekwondo, allowing Sorn Davin, a silver medalist in taekwondo at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, to participate.

References

{{Country at games navbox, Cambodia, Summer Olympics Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...