Tonga at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Tonga sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–23 February 2014. This was the Pacific island nation's debut at the Winter Olympic Games. The Tongan delegation consisted of one luge athlete, Bruno Banani, who had changed his name in a marketing gimmick to match that of German brand Bruno Banani. In his event, the men's singles, he came in 32nd place out of 39 competitors.

Tonga at the
2014 Winter Olympics
IOC codeTGA
NOCTonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee
Websitewww.oceaniasport.com/tonga
in Sochi
Competitors1 in 1 sport
Flag bearers Bruno Banani (opening and closing)
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)

Background

The Tonga Sports Association and National Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1984.[1] The Kingdom made its Olympic debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and has appeared at every Summer Olympic Games since then.[2] These Sochi Olympics were the Kingdom's debut at the Winter Olympic Games.[3] The 2014 Winter Olympics were held from 7–23 February 2014; a total of 2,780 athletes representing 88 National Olympic Committees took part.[4] Bruno Banani, a luger, was the only athlete Tonga sent to Sochi.[5] Banani was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening ceremony and closing ceremony.[6][7]

Luge
Main article: Luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Tonga qualified for a place in the men's singles when Bruno Banani finished in the top 38 (with a maximum of three per nation qualifying) during an event in the 2013–14 Luge World Cup.[8] He took up luge in 2009 having previously trained in rugby, and had failed to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics by being a single point short after crashing in the final qualifying race.[9] Banani, whose birth name is Fuahea Semi, had attracted media attention by changing his name to that of a German lingerie company, as part of a marketing ploy.[10][11] His name change was criticised by International Olympic Committee Vice President Thomas Bach, who described it as being "in bad taste".[12]

Banani was 26 years old at the time of the Sochi Olympics.[13][14] The men's singles competition was held on 8–9 February, with two runs being contested each day; the final mark of each athlete was the sum of all four of their runs.[15] On the first day, Banani's run times were 53.656 seconds[16] and 53.637 seconds.[17] Overnight, he was in 33rd place out of 39 competitors, and three seconds behind the leader.[18] On the second day, he posted run times of 53.162 seconds[19] and 53.221 seconds for his fourth and final run.[20] Banani finished 32nd out of 39 competitors, with a combined time of 3 minutes and 33.676 seconds.[15] Felix Loch of Germany won the gold medal with a total time of 3 minutes and 27.526 seconds,[21] the silver medal was taken by Albert Demchenko of Russia, and the bronze medal was earned by Armin Zöggeler of Italy.[22]

Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Bruno Banani Men's singles 53.656 34 53.637 31 53.162 30 53.221 33 3:33.676 32

See also

References
  1. "Tonga – National Olympic Committee (NOC)". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  2. "Tonga". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  3. Nee, Nicole (6 December 2016). "Tonga's Rio flag-bearer aims for 2018 Winter Games". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  4. "Sochi Olympics – 2014 Winter Games in Russia results & videos". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  5. "Tonga at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  6. "Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony – Flagbearers" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  7. "Sochi 2014 Closing Ceremony – Flagbearers" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  8. Pearlman, Jonathan (19 December 2013). "Tongan rugby player qualifies for Winter Olympics as luge racer". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  9. Drehs, Wayne (9 February 2014). "2014 Sochi Olympics – Bruno Banani is part athlete, part gimmick". ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  10. "Tongan rugby player earns Winter Olympics spot", Stuff.co.nz, 20 December 2013
  11. "Luge ‘hoaxster’ name change now legal, just wants to race for Tonga at Sochi Olympics" Archived 2018-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, Vancouver Sun, 1 February 2013
  12. "Luge-Tongan changes name to brand in bid for Olympic glory", Reuters, 11 February 2012
  13. "Bruno Banani Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  14. "Bruno BANANI – Olympic Luge – Tonga". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  15. "Luge at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games: Men's Singles". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  16. "Luge at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games: Men's Singles Run 1". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  17. "Luge at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games: Men's Singles Run 2". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  18. "Luge at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games: Men's Singles Runs 1–2". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  19. "Luge at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games: Men's Singles Run 3". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  20. "Luge at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games: Men's Singles Run 4". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  21. "Luge – Men's Singles – Final Results" (PDF). International Luge Federation. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  22. "Sochi 2014 Singles men – Olympic Luge". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
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