Cook Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics events (with the exception of weightlifting, where the first round was the only round) and did not go on to win medals. Pera was the nation's flag bearer at the ceremonies. The Cook Islands are a collection of fifteen islands lying in the South Pacific Ocean that are governed under a single parliamentary entity. Some 10,000 people live in the dependency. The country is in a free association with New Zealand, who handles the nation's external affairs. The Cook Islands became self-governing in 1965. 23 years later, the Cook Islands sent their first delegation to the Olympics at the 1988
Netball in the Cook Islands and the Cook Islands team came in sixth. At the World Games 1989 in Germany, the team came fourth. In the 1990 Oceania Netball Tournament, the team defeated New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji to come in second behind Australia. In January 2011, the national team was ranked eleventh in the world. At the 1992 World Youth Cup in Samoa, the Cook Islands U-21 team defeated several high profile international teams including Wales, Samoa, and England. The Cook Islands' defeat of Canada, 114–13, in that tournament was a record for the highest score in the tournament. The Cook Islands also has