Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics

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Although traditionally associated with cold weather nations, the Winter Olympics have also had participation from several tropical nations. The typical climate of these nations is not conducive to participation in winter sports, and no Winter Olympic medals have ever been won by a tropical nation. Despite that, or perhaps because of that, their entries are a subject of human interest stories during the Games.[1][2][3]

The first participation of a warm weather nation in the Winter Games was Mexico. Strictly-speaking, much of Mexico is at a latitude above the Tropic of Cancer, and most of the country has a desert or semi-arid climate, so it is not exclusively a tropical nation. Nonetheless, Mexico made its Winter debut at the 1928 Winter Olympics[4] with a five-man bobsleigh team that finished eleventh of twenty-three entrants.[5] Mexico did not return again to the Winter Games until 1984.[6]

The first truly tropical nation to compete in the Winter Olympic Games is the Philippines, who sent two alpine skiers to the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.[7] Ben Nanasca placed 42nd in the giant slalom event (out of 73 entrants), but Juan Cipriano did not finish. In the slalom event, neither skier was able to finish. Costa Rica became the second tropical nation to participate at the Winter Games, in 1980 at Lake Placid, New York,[8] where Arturo Kinch also competed in alpine skiing events. Kinch would continue to compete for Costa Rica at three more Winter Games, including the 2006 Games at age 49. There he finished 96th in the 15 km cross-country skiing event, ahead of only Prawat Nagvajara of Thailand.[9][3]

The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada attracted a large number of tropical nations, including Costa Rica, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.[10] The Jamaican Bobsled Team became a fan favorite at these Games[11][12] and were later the inspiration behind the 1993 motion picture Cool Runnings.

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy marked the Winter Games debut of Ethiopia[2] and Madagascar.[13]

[edit] List of participating tropical nations

World map with the tropics highlighted in red
World map with the tropics highlighted in red

This list of nations includes those that lie entirely or predominantly within the tropical latitudes and also have a mostly tropical climate according to the Köppen climate classification system. Years of Winter Olympic Games participation are shown.

Africa
Cameroon Cameroon (CMR) 2002
Ethiopia Ethiopia (ETH) 2006
Kenya Kenya (KEN) 1998–2006
Madagascar Madagascar (MAD) 2006
Senegal Senegal (SEN) 1984, 1992–1994, 2006
 
Caribbean
Jamaica Jamaica (JAM) 1988–2002
Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles (AHO) 1988–1992
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (PUR) 1984–2002
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) 1994–2002
Virgin Islands Virgin Islands (ISV) 1984–2006
 
Central and South America
Brazil Brazil (BRA) 1992–2006
Costa Rica Costa Rica (CRC) 1980–1992, 2006
Guatemala Guatemala (GUA) 1988
Honduras Honduras (HON) 1992
Venezuela Venezuela (VEN) 1998–2006
 
Oceania
American Samoa American Samoa (ASA) 1994
Fiji Fiji (FIJ) 1988, 1994, 2002
Guam Guam (GUM) 1988
 
Asia
Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei (TPE)[14] 1972–1976, 1984–2006
Hong Kong Hong Kong (HKG) 2002–2006
Philippines Philippines (PHI) 1972, 1988–1992
Thailand Thailand (THA) 2002–2006

Other warm weather nations (located in the subtropics, for example) that have competed in the Winter Games include Australia (which has a tropical far north), Bermuda, India (which contains a section of the Himalayas), Mexico, New Zealand (the first Southern Hemisphere nation to win a medal at the Winter Olympics; in 1992), South Africa, Swaziland, and several Mediterranean Basin nations including Morocco.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brown, Gerry. Beyond the Jamaican Bobsledders. Infoplease. Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
  2. ^ a b Ethiopia first at Winter Olympics. BBC News (2006-02-10). Retrieved on 2006-09-16.
  3. ^ a b Bunce, Steve. "The crazy race - only the potty need apply", The Daily Telegraph, 2006-02-17. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  4. ^ Comité Olympique Suisse (1928). Rapport Général du Comité Exécutif des IImes Jeux Olympiques d'hiver (PDF) (in French), Lausanne: Imprimerie du Léman, pp. 7. Retrieved on 2008-01-30. 
  5. ^ Comité Olympique Suisse (1928). Résultats des Concours des IImes Jeux Olympiques d'hiver (PDF) (in French), Lausanne: Imprimerie du Léman, pp. 12–13. Retrieved on 2008-01-30. 
  6. ^ (1984) Official Report of the Organising Committee of the XlVth Winter Olympic Games 1984 at Sarajevo (PDF), Sarajevo: Oslobodenje, pp. 89–90. Retrieved on 2009-01-31. 
  7. ^ (1973) The Official Report of XIth Winter Olympic Games, Sapporo 1972 (PDF), The Organizing Committee for the Sapporo Olympic Winter Games, pp. 32, 145, 447. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  8. ^ Final Report XIII Olympic Winter Games (PDF), Ed Lewi Associates, pp. 6, 12, 19. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  9. ^ Turin 2006 Winter Olympics - Cross Country Results. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  10. ^ Janofsky, Michael. "'88 Winter Olympics; Calgary Has It Down Cold", The New York Times, 1988-02-07. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  11. ^ Spotlight: Jamaican bobsleigh team. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  12. ^ Harasta, Cathy. "Jamaican bobsledders want to dispel jokes about tropical entry in wintry sport", The Dallas Morning News, 1988-02-20. 
  13. ^ Turin 2006 Did you know?. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  14. ^ Chinese Taipei is the IOC designation for Taiwan. Republic of China (ROC) was the nation's designation at the Olympic Games before 1979.
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