Dominica at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Dominica competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7 to 23 February 2014, in its Winter Olympics debut. The nation was represented by two cross-country skiers.

Dominica at the
2014 Winter Olympics
IOC codeDMA
NOCDominica Olympic Committee
Websitewww.doc.dm
in Sochi
Competitors2 in 1 sport
Flag bearers Gary di Silvestri (opening[1][2]
and closing)[3]
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)

Competitors
SportMenWomenTotal
Cross-country skiing 112
Total112

Cross-country skiing
Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics

In November 2012, the International Olympic Committee asked Dominica if it had athletes to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics. In response, Angelica and Gary di Silvestri created the Dominica Ski Federation and qualified for the games.[1] Angelica was born and raised in Italy and Gary was from the United States. Neither had cross-country skied before the age of 30.

Neither skier completed their event in Sochi. Angelica did not start her race after an injury during training.[4] Had Angelica competed in her race, she would have become the oldest woman to compete in a cross-country skiing race at the Winter Olympics, surpassing Norway's Hilde Gjermundshaug Pedersen, who competed as a 41-year-old at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.[5] Gary did not finish due to illness.[6]

The appearance of the di Silvestris received criticism from several journalists; neither athlete had any familial ties to Dominica or had ever resided there, and they had only visited the island on a single occasion. They received Dominican citizenship from an investment program and qualified for the Games by competing in low-level races where they finished among the last-place skiers, but earned some qualifying points simply by virtue of being finishers.[7][8][9] Several stories cited the team as examples for the need to close loopholes in both acquisition of citizenship and in maintaining competitive qualifying standards for the Games.[10][11]

Distance
Athlete Event Final
Time Deficit Rank
Gary di Silvestri Men's 15 km classical DNF
Angelica di Silvestri Women's 10 km classical DNS


References
  1. Zaccardi, Nick (23 January 2014). "Staten Island man, 46, and wife will ski for Dominica at Sochi Olympics". NBC. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. "Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony - Flagbearers" (PDF). olympic.org. Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  3. "Sochi 2014 Closing Ceremony - Flagbearers" (PDF). The International Olympic Committee (IOC). 23 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  4. Basu, Anand (13 February 2014). "Olympics-Cross Country-Women's 10 km classic result". Reuters. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  5. Clarey, Christopher (6 February 2014). "Caribbean Newcomers Dip Their Toes in the Snow". The New York Times. Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Russia. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  6. Waggoner, Jim (14 February 2014). "Winter Olympics 2014: A physical nightmare for Staten Islander Gary di Silvestri and wife in Sochi". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  7. Levenson, Eric (25 February 2014). "A Guide to Scamming Your Way into the Olympics, À La Dominica's Ski Team". The Atlantic.
  8. "Do Dominica's Adorable Skiers Deserve A Gold Medal In Tax Dodging?". Deadspin. 13 February 2014.
  9. "Did Dominica couple game the Games? | UTSanDiego.com". 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
  10. Daniels, Tim. "Gary, Angelica Di Silvestri's Timeline as Controversial Dominica Olympic Skiers". Bleacher Report.
  11. "Dominica's Fake Ski Team Scammed The Olympics And The Press". Deadspin. 24 February 2014.
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