Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics

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. Probably because of that, their entries are a subject of human interest stories during the Games. [cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/winter-olympics-warm-weather.html |title=Beyond the Jamaican Bobsledders |last=Brown |first=Gerry |publisher=Infoplease |accessdate=2006-09-16] cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4695166.stm |title=Ethiopia first at Winter Olympics |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-02-10 |accessdate=2006-09-16] cite news |title=The crazy race - only the potty need apply |last=Bunce |first=Steve |date=2006-02-17 |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/02/18/sobunc18.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/02/18/ixportal.html |accessdate=2008-01-31]

The first participation of a warm weather nation in the Winter Games was Mexico. Strictly-speaking, much of Mexico is at a latitude north of 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 [cite book |title=Rapport Général du Comité Exécutif des II^mes Jeux Olympiques d'hiver |author=Comité Olympique Suisse |publisher=Imprimerie du Léman |location=Lausanne |year=1928 |language=French |pages=pp. 7 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1928/1928w1.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-01-30] with a five-man bobsleigh team that finished eleventh of twenty-three entrants. [cite book |title=Résultats des Concours des II^mes Jeux Olympiques d'hiver |author=Comité Olympique Suisse |publisher=Imprimerie du Léman |location=Lausanne |year=1928 |language=French |pages=pp. 12–13 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1928/1928w2.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-01-30] Mexico did not return again to the Winter Games until 1984. [cite book |title=Official Report of the Organising Committee of the XlVth Winter Olympic Games 1984 at Sarajevo |publisher=Oslobodenje |location=Sarajevo |year=1984 |pages=pp. 89–90 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1984/or1984w.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2009-01-31]

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. [cite book |title=The Official Report of XIth Winter Olympic Games, Sapporo 1972 |publisher=The Organizing Committee for the Sapporo Olympic Winter Games |location= |year=1973 |pages=pp. 32, 145, 447 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1972/orw1972.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-01-31] 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, [cite book |title=Final Report XIII Olympic Winter Games |publisher=Ed Lewi Associates |pages=pp. 6, 12, 19 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1980/orw1980v2.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-01-31] 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. [cite web |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino2006/cross_country/results?day=17 |title=Turin 2006 Winter Olympics - Cross Country Results |publisher=Yahoo! |accessdate=2008-01-31]

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. [cite news |first=Michael |last=Janofsky |title='88 Winter Olympics; Calgary Has It Down Cold |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6D6123CF934A35751C0A96E948260 |publisher=The New York Times |date=1988-02-07 |accessdate=2008-01-31] The Jamaican Bobsled Team became a fan favorite at these Games [cite web |title=Spotlight: Jamaican bobsleigh team |url=http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/history/1988calgary.shtml |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |accessdate=2008-01-31] [cite news |title=Jamaican bobsledders want to dispel jokes about tropical entry in wintry sport |first=Cathy |last=Harasta |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |date=1988-02-20] 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 and Madagascar. [cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/innovations_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=2006 |title=Turin 2006 Did you know? |publisher=International Olympic Committee |accessdate=2008-01-31]

List of participating tropical nations

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.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, and became the first Southern Hemisphere nation to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 2002), 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.

ee also

*List of participating nations at the Winter Olympic Games

References