Gary di Silvestri competed in cross-country skiing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics for the island nation of Dominica. Di Silvestri was a US citizen who became wealthy as a hedge fund manager. He and his wife, Angelica Morrone di Silvestri, often visited Dominica for holidays, and were able to obtain Dominican citizenship, to enable them to compete at the Olympics, by depositing $175,000 (US) into the appropriate account at the National Commercial Bank of Dominica. Gary di Silvestri then formed a Dominican Ski Federation to get approval from the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), and competed in several pre-Olympic races to earn enough points to compete at Sochi. It did not go well. Di Silvestri became sick in Sochi with gastroenteritis and skiied only about 300 metres of the 15 kilometres race and stopped. Reports after the Sochi Olympics detailed that some of the athletic feats di Silvestri claimed for himself in his various bios, such as wrestling and rowing championships in school, were somewhat exaggerated.
Dominica