“It’s the taking part,” the battle cry for many a loser justifying why they won the wooden spoon. On the other hand when you hear the back story of how some contenders came to be at Sochi you have to take your furry Russian hat off to them. With odds stacked against them, here are some participants who should win a medal of some sort, for persistence and for actually managing to be there in the first place.

It’s one thing to be “pants” at the sport you participate in but quite another to actually change your name to a pair of boxers. Well that’s what Fuahea Semi a 21 year old Tongan student did. Fuahea Semi changed his name, moved to Germany and became Bruno Banani. Bruno Banani is the name of a German underwear manufacturer and this cunning plan was dreamed up by a marketing company in a clever ploy to gain exposure for the company. Fuahea, er sorry, Bruno also had to learn to Luge. Luge is huge in Germany, in every single winter Olympics a German has finished on the podium. There’s isn’t much opportunity to Luge in Tonga, the country doesn’t have a lot of snow, in fact it’s never snowed in Tonga so Bruno had some catching up to do, sadly he didn’t qualify for the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. But, God loves a trier and he duly qualified for Sochi 2014, making him, unsurprisingly, Tonga’s first ever Winter Olympian. When the hoax was exposed in 2012, Thomas Bach, now IOC president, wasn’t impressed but he must be secretly admiring Fuahea/Bruno’s will to succeed. 

Another country noted for it’s distinct lack of the white stuff is Dominica and yet it has two participants in the Cross-Country Ski-ing event. Gary di Silvestri, 46, from Staten Island, New York and his Italian wife Angelica Morrone di Silvestri, 48, are the skiers in question. So, how did this come about? you may ask. Dominica bestowed citizenship on these two philanthropists as a “thank you” for the work they did establishing children’s hospitals. The couple had been part-time competitive skiers for many year so when the 

International Olympic Committee came looking for potential Dominican athletes it was a no brainer. However, they needed to qualify - which led to a anxious couple of months, appearing on start lists next to far younger athletes. The effort paid off and they are Dominica's first Winter Olympians. They may not win any medals but as with Bruno you’ve got to admire their determination to make the cut.

If you think a Tongan Luger and Dominican Cross-country skiers are pretty unlikely, what about a Mexican Alpine Skier, yeah right! Well it‘s true and to stretch credibility even further the guy is a Prince. We’re in Unicorn and Leprechaun territory here surely? Nope, it’s true. Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe is the son of German minor royals but was born in Mexico City and his grand mother is half Mexican. Von Hohenlohe founded the Mexican Ski Federation in 1981, the annual meeting aren’t very lively, he’s the only member. At 55, he will become the second oldest participant in the history of the winter Olympics, the oldest was a Swedish curler named Carl August Kronlund, who was 58 when he competed at the inaugural Games of 1924. A medal is unlikely but I suspect Von Hohenlohe is unconcerned, after all it’s about the taking part.

Shiva Keshavan is another unlikely Luge exponent, they do have snow in India, lots of it but they don’t have the facilities to train on. so Shiva, brave soul that he is, practices on the mountain highway. Stunning footage exists of Keshavan hurtling down Indian mountain roads on a tiny sled, passing startled goats and sliding underneath trucks, showing the lengths to which he has gone to reach the Games. Shiva made his debut age 16 in the 1998 edition at Nagano. Another unlikely medal winner, his best effort so far was 25th in Turin in 2006.

There’s no musical events in the Olympics and there never will be but if there was Vanessa Mae the world famous concert violinist would be a clear favourite. So it’s established she’s not taking part in the Alpine Fiddle-Off but she has entered the Alpine Skiing event. She’s under no illusion about a podium place but you can’t fault her ambition. Representing Thailand, her father’s homeland, she made it known in 2010 that she had a dream to be at the start gate in Sochi and competing for the last four years under an alias, Vanessa Vanakorn, her father’s surname, she’s made the cut by the skin of her teeth, on the last possible weekend for qualifying, she just squeezed in and made her own dream come true.