AUSTIN (KXAN) — As the world unites for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, athletes from all corners of the globe are set to go for gold on the biggest stage.
It’s a unique event that pits competitors from highly populated, massive countries against qualifiers from the tiniest of nations. There are 206 recognized national Olympic committees, and when the representatives come down the Seine River in downtown Paris during the opening ceremony July 26, some will be from places you’ve never heard of.
Fear not, because we’re here to help. We found athletes who hail from places off the beaten path, either from tiny island nations, war-torn countries recovering from years of conflict or somewhere in between — and now you can impress your friends by saying, “Yeah, I know where that is.”
Andorra
Tucked between Spain and France in the Pyrenees Mountains, Andorra is one of the smallest countries in the world and is the only co-principality (ruled by two princes) in the world. Catalan is the official language, and Andorra is the only country in the world that uses it as the official language.
Monica Doria is the country’s lone representative at the Games. She’ll compete in canoeing, making her second trip to the Olympics after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Burkina Faso
The West African nation is bordered to the north and west primarily by Mali with Niger to the east and several countries along its southern border.
It gained independence from France in 1960, and according to the U.S. State Department’s website, the country partners with the U.S. for “a number of military training and exchange programs, including in counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance.”
Also, if you’re going from there to Timbuktu, it’s not really that far.
Hugues Fabrice Zango is a world champion in the triple jump, claiming the title at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is the world’s current No. 1-ranked triple jumper. He’s the country’s only competitor at the Paris Games.
Cape Verde
Officially known as the Republic of Cabo Verde, this archipelago is off the African coast in the Atlantic Ocean. Senegal and Mauritania are countries directly to the east about 350 miles away. Cabo Verde gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and while its official language is still Portuguese, most of the people who reside there speak Cape Verdean Creole.
Cabo Verde is made up of 10 volcanic islands with a combined land area of roughly 1,550 square miles.
Cabo Verde has two delegates at the Games, both in boxing. Ivanusa (Nancy) Moreira will fight in the women’s 66-kilogram (145.5 pounds) weight class while Daniel Varela de Pina earned a spot in the men’s 51-kilogram (112.4 pounds) weight class.
Cyprus
An island in the far eastern Mediterranean Sea, it’s just south of Türkiye with Middle East countries Syria and Lebanon to the east. Its official languages are Greek and Turkish.
The nation gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and joined the European Union in 2004. Data from the 2021 census said the island’s population is roughly 923,000.
It’s home to one of the top sailors in the world, Pavlos Kontides. He won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics in the men’s laser division and was a two-time world champion in 2017 and 2018. He’s the first and only Cypriot athlete to win an Olympic medal. He qualified for the 2008 Beijing Games, 2016 Rio Games and the 2020 Tokyo Games as well.
Dominica
A small Caribbean island of about 72,000 people, Dominica shouldn’t be confused with the Dominican Republic, but it often is. It’s in the Lesser Antilles archipelago and is technically still being formed by volcanic activity.
It gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1978 and its official language is English but Dominican Creole and French are widely spoken.
Dominica is one of four countries to use purple on its national flag.
Thea LaFond will represent the island in the women’s triple jump and she’s currently ranked No. 3 in the world.
Eritrea
Located in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea became a sovereign nation in 1993 after decades of war with Ethiopia. Eritrea is bordered by the Red Sea along with Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia, with an estimated population of 6.3 million. The Bab al-Mandab Strait separates Eritrea from Yemen.
Eritrea doesn’t have an official language but the working languages are Tigrinya, English and Arabic.
The country is a hotbed for distance runners. Six athletes (four men, two women) are slated to compete in the marathon with three (two men, one woman) in the 10,000 meters and two men in the 5,000 meters.
Kyrgyzstan
Formed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan is in central Asia surrounded by China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It has an estimated population of 7 million.
One of the most popular sports there is wrestling, and that makes sense considering the country will send seven wrestlers to Paris. The country will also have representation in weightlifting and boxing.
St. Lucia
Another island in the Lesser Antilles, St. Lucia has a connection to Austin via one of the greatest sprinters in University of Texas history. Julien Alfred, the 2023 Bowerman Award winner and 11-time All-American for the Longhorns, will run in the 100 and 200 meters as St. Lucia’s only woman in the Olympics. Michael Joseph will compete in the 400 meters on the men’s side.
San Marino
Completely surrounded by Italy, San Marino is the fifth-smallest country in the world with an area of 23.63 square miles. Its population is an estimated 35,000 people and even though it’s not officially part of the European Union, the currency is the euro.
It’s one of two countries surrounded by Italy, the other being Vatican City which is in the middle of Rome.
American-born wrestler Myles Nazem Amine will represent the nation in the 86-kilogram (190 pounds) weight class. He wrestled for the Michigan Wolverines from 2015-2022 and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. He’s able to compete for San Marino due to citizenship passed through his maternal great-grandparents.
Azerbaijan qualified a women’s 3-on-3 basketball team for the first time in Olympic history while South Sudan will send a men’s 5-on-5 basketball team for the first time. South Sudan is coached by former Texas Longhorns standout Royal Ivey.
Fiji, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, qualified both its men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams. Samoa will also send a team in men’s rugby sevens and Montenegro qualified in men’s water polo.
