800 metres, and Sandrine Thiébaud-Kangni made the first of two Olympic appearances for Togo, in the women's 400 metres. The two runners each qualified for the 2004 Games through the use of wildcard places, since their season best time fell outside of the "B" qualifying standards. Sekpona was Togo's flag bearer during the opening ceremony. Athletics Jan Sekpona competed in the men's 800 metres on 25 August in the third heat. He finished in one minute and 54.25 seconds, resulting in him finishing last of the eight competitors in the heat, behind Bosnia and Herzegovina's Jasmin Salihović (one minute and 49.59 seconds). The top two athletes automatically qualified for the following round, along with Jean-Patrick Nduwimana from Burundi (one minute and 45.38 seconds) and Brazil's Osmar dos Santos (one minute and 45.90 seconds), who each qualified as some of the fastest runners-up across all heats. Sekpona did not advance and was eliminated from Olympic competition after the first heat. The sole female Togolese athlete at the 2004 Games, Sandrine Thiébaud-Kangni, competed in the 400 metres. She ran in the fifth heat on 21 August, finishing in a time of 52.87 seconds in seventh position. This was only ahead of Sri Lanka's Damayanthi Dharsha (54.58 seconds), but was outside the time of Mireille Nguimgo from Cameroon (51.90 seconds), who was the slowest qualifier from the heat. Thiébaud-Kangni did not progress to the following round. Track & Road events Canoeing The sole Togolese canoeist, Benjamin Boukpeti competed in the men's K-1 competition. He competed in the qualifying round on 19 August, finishing in 9th place during the first run with a time of 96.99 seconds. He finished his second run in 101.93 seconds, placing him in 21st place. This gave him an overall total of 198.92 seconds, which put him in 15th place. Since the top 20 finishers qualified for the semi-final, Boukpeti made his way into the next round. There was a single run for the semi-final on 20 August, with Boukpeti's time of 102.42 seconds resulting in him finishing in 18th position out of the 20 canoeists. This was ahead of Pierpaolo Ferrazzi of Italy (103.07 seconds) and Switzerland's Michael Kurt (103.20 seconds). Only the top ten competitors qualified for the final, ending Boukpeti's competition. Slalom Notes References External links Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad Nations at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2004 Olympics