The Virgin Islands Winter Olympic Team, 52-year-old luger Anne Abernathy
(image copyright Reuters)
India’s Winter Olympic team may seem small with only four members, and considering the population of the nation, it is indeed tiny, but here is a large list of teams with only one or two members:
- Albania (1 athlete)
- Algeria (2 athletes)
- Azerbaijan (2 athletes)
- Bermuda (1 athlete)
- Costa Rica (1 athlete)
- Cyprus (1 athlete)
- Ethiopia (1 athlete)
- Hong Kong (1 athlete)
- Iran (2 athletes)
- Kenya (1 athlete)
- Kyrgyzstan (1 athlete)
- Luxembourg (1 athlete)
- Madagascar (1 athlete)
- Nepal (1 athlete)
- Portugal (1 athlete)
- San Marino (1 athlete)
- Senegal (1 athlete)
- Taiwan (1 athlete)
- Tajikistan (1 athlete)
- Thailand (1 athlete)
- Venezuela (1 athlete)
- Virgin Islands (1 athlete)
This list starts to make the tiny Indian team look like a potential powerhouse. The best part is that every one of these small teams is rich with the stories of unlikely Olympians, facing all sorts of obstacles to make their way to Torino. Though most are unlikely to win a medal, they have already won by reaching the finest competition in the world for their respective sports.
Unfortunately, Anne Abernathy (pictured above), the oldest competitor in these Olympic games, had to pull out of competition due to a broken wrist. Will “Grandma Luge” be back for the 2010 games in Vancouver?
