As the only athlete sent by his country to the Olympics in Paris, sprinter Shaun Gill has been revelling in his temporary status as “the most famous man” in Belize. He is one of four athletes sent to the 2024 Games as their nations' sole representative. It is a responsibility that brings pride – and some extra anxiety. Solo competitors told the BBC their jobs could be lonely, but being their nation’s default flagbearer during the opening ceremony had been exhilarating. As a result of Gill's sudden celebrity, others in the athletes’ village have been chasing his autograph, the 31-year-old told the BBC. “I had a joke with one of my friends that I may need a security detail,” he laughed.
The larger Olympic delegations – such as those sent by the US and the UK – are able to choose their flagbearers from groups of hundreds of athletes. But Belize, a Central American nation with a population of less than half a million, had only one candidate – as did Liechtenstein, Nauru and Somalia. Gill waved his country’s flag with all the patriotic zeal he could muster, as he and other athletes paraded along the River Seine in boats. He went viral for his impassioned efforts in the driving rain Carrying the hopes of a nation was pressurising, Gill admitted. He did not advance to the men’s 100m final, and reflected that jet lag had left him unable to run as fast as he hoped “When the performance is lacking, I’m like, ‘Man, I hope I didn’t make you all disappointed,’” he said.
Somalian runner Ali Idow Hassan is hoping that he manages to do what Gill did not: make it to the medals podium in the Stade de France. If Hassan is fast enough in the men's 800m on Wednesday, he will advance to the semi-finals.
Otherwise, the Olympic medal hopes of the east African nation will be over in little more than 100 seconds: the time it will take for Hassan and his rivals to dash around the track. Some of the world’s smaller nations benefit from universality rules that are designed to ensure a diverse representation of countries during the sporting contest. Hassan, 26, told the BBC he was “very happy” to be his nation’s solitary envoy at Paris 2024, but admitted there was a flipside: “I feel very sad when I’m alone.” But Hassan has befriended athletes from other African countries. The experience of staying in the athletes’ village had been less isolating than might be expected, the competitors agreed.
Romano Püntener, a mountain-biker who represented Liechtenstein on his own, was hunted down in the compound by none other than Andy Murray. The tennis ace wanted to swap pin-badges with Püntener, knowing that one from Liechtenstein was a rarity. The badges are regularly traded by athletes touring the international circuit.
Liechtenstein is a small, land-locked country between Austria and Switzerland, with a population of 38,000 people. Top-level athletes have been few and far between.The Olympics had been “unforgettable” for Püntener, who said he had enjoyed the sheer investment he had received as his country's only hope at the 2024 Games.“It only helped me,” Püntener reflected. “We could really build the whole team around me, and I could decide who I wanted to have with me – and who not.”The 20-year-old finished 28th in last week’s race, his Olympic debut. But since he was not expected to win a medal, he had been able to enjoy himself, and cherish the support of the 20 or 30 compatriots who turned out to cheer him on. Among them was the country’s prime minister.
But in a digital age, a deluge of support is capable of becoming a distraction when the sportsmen want to focus on delivering for their countries. “It felt like I got a message from every person living in Liechtenstein,” said Püntener.
Gill said he had received “thousands” of well-wishes. “My phone freezes, my Instagram freezes,” he said. “I had to turn it off at one point because I couldn’t even have a moment of peace to myself… I do appreciate it, but I guess I had to just learn how to manage it real quick.”Despite the huge support they may have received, the solitary competitors are running against the odds in many ways. Winzar Kakiouea competed in the men’s 100m race for Nauru, an island in the Pacific that is the world's smallest republic and heavily reliant on aid. He told the New York Times many people he met had not heard of his country (population: 11,000), which did not even have a proper race track, only a “dirt oval”.When the Games are over, and the spotlight moves on to something else, these competitors will return to lives that may look very different to those lived by the world’s sporting megastars.
Gill has chosen to retire from big races and will now focus on training the next generation of runners in Belize, as well as his own future career as an engineer.Püntener will return to his home in Schaan, in the mountains of Liechtenstein, which is perfect for cross-country cycling. “For me, it feels like a big town,” he said. Hassan will go back to training in Ethiopia, though he hopes one day he will live again in his birth city of Mogadishu. Speaking on the eve of the men’s 800m contest, he was hopeful that improvements in Somalia’s security situation could mean more delegates being sent to future Olympics. Somalia has a population of 17 million, but has been beset by a civil war for decades.
“One day, there will be more athletes,” Nassan predicted. “Ten athletes, 100 athletes will be here.”
— CutC by bbc.com
