Top 3 Historically Bad Countries In The Olympics

1. Monaco (20 Summer Olympics, 8 Winter Olympics)

Monaco started its long march toward being the country competing in the most Olympics without an athletic medal in 1920.  The 1920 Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp, Belgium.  Monaco’s Julien Médecin did actually win a Bronze Medal in the 1924 Games…for Architecture.  The medal was for Town Planning for the Stadium of Monte Carlo.  Since art competitions are not counted in the official athletic medal count, Monaco still does not officially have a medal in an athletic competition.  The only question now is, what will happen first: Monaco winning an athletic medal, or the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series?

2. San Marino (13 Summer Olympiads, 7 Winter Olympiads)

San Marino first participated in the Summer Olympic Games in 1960 in Rome, Italy.  San Marino was somewhat notable for causing a bit of a stir about the United States-led boycott in the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.  San Marino supported the boycott, partially.  San Marino allowed its athletes to compete, but the San Marino contingent did not compete under their own flag in support of the boycott: they competed under the Olympic flag.  They might want to use the Olympic flag more often.  Stefano Casali had one of San Marino’s best finishes ever, with a 24th place finish in the 20-kilometer walk.

3. Andorra (10 Summer Olympiads, 10 Winter Olympiads)

Andorra has appeared in every Olympics Games (both Summer and Winter) since 1976.  Andorra’s first Olympic appearance was the Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.  While the consistency effort is certainly laudable, the results have certainly been a bit lacking.  The lone top-20 finish for any athlete by Andorra came in the 1988 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.  Vicki Grau finished 19th in the Women’s Slalom.  The same year, Grau did not finish the Women’s Giant Slalom.  That would be the high-water, or perhaps high-snow, mark.