Djibouti took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008.^[1] The country's participation at Beijing marked its sixth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1984.^[1] The Djibouti delegation included two athletes in 2008; Mahamoud Farah, a middle-distance runner, and Fathia Ali Bouraleh, a sprinter. Hussein Ahmed Salah, Djibouti's only Olympic medalist, was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies despite not competing in 2008.^[2] None of the Djiboutian athletes progressed further than the heat round.^[3]

Djibouti participated in five summer Olympic games between its debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States of America and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.^[1] Djibouti made their Olympic debut in 1984, sending three athletes to the games.^[4] The most number of Djiboutian athletes participating in a summer games is eight^[1] in the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain.^[5] Only one Djiboutian athlete has ever won a medal at the Olympics, that was Hussein Ahmed Salah, a marathon runner, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 marathon.^[6] Two athletes from Djibouti were selected to compete in the Beijing games; Mahamoud Farah in the track and field 1500 meters and Fathia Ali Bouraleh in the track and field 100 m.^[3]

Djibouti was represented by one male athlete at the 2008 Olympics in athletics:^[3] Mahamoud Farah, a 1500 meters runner.^[3] It was Farah's Olympic debut but he had previously competed in the 2007 IAAF World Championships.^[7] He competed on 15 August in Beijing,^[8] and finished 8th out of 12 in heat four^{[lower-alpha 1]} in a time of 3 minutes and 43.62 seconds.^[8] He was 8.83 seconds behind the winner of his heat, Mohamed Moustaoui.^[8] Overall he finished 42nd out of 53 athletes,^{[lower-alpha 1]} and he was 1.32 seconds slower than the slowest athlete that progressed to the semi-final round and, therefore, that was the end of his competition.^[9]

Competing at her first Olympics,^[10] Fathia Ali Bouraleh was the oldest competitor for Djibouti at these Olympics, aged 20.^[11] She competed in the 100 meters on 16 August.^[12] Ali Bouraleh was drawn into heat four.^[12] Ali Bouraleh ran a time of 14.29 seconds and finished last in her heat, 2.99 second behind the winner, Chandra Sturrup.^[12] She finished 84th out of 85 athletes overall and was 0.51 seconds faster than the slowest athlete, Robina Muqimyar.^[13] She was 3.16 seconds behind the fastest athlete and 2.64 seconds behind the slowest athlete who progressed to the semi-finals, Thi Huong Vu.^[13] Therefore, Ali Bouraleh did not progress to the quarter-finals.^[13]