Volume No. 2 Issue No. 50 - Wednesday August 13, 2008
The Daily Mirror meets the smallest team at the Beijing Olympics
 By Jeremy Armstrong- The Daily Mirror
Jerome Romain on the left with Erison Hurtault at the opening ceremony of the Bejing olympics.
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The Daily Mirror took an entire Olympic team out to dinner last night. It was a table for three.
The Caribbean island of Dominica has just two athletes competing in Beijing which is the smallest team at the Games.
But sprinters Chris Lloyd, 27, and Erison Hurtault, 23, embody the Olympic ideal. The duo stood proudly with their tiny nation's coach and flag bearer Jerome Romain at the opening ceremony.
Behind them were China's 639 competitors, their biggest team ever. Team America stood 600- strong nearby. But Chris, brought up in the US by Dominican parents Juliette and Victorie, is determined to put the minnows on the map in the 200 metres.
He said: "It is all down to the individual. It does not matter where you are from.
"The Opening Ceremony was fantastic because we saw all the big stars.
"But once you get out to compete it does not matter whether you are a superstar or a big fish in a little pond."
He went on: "It was the same in the Pan American games. We were the smallest nation by far.
"But I got a bronze. You have to go out with attitude that you are here to win gold otherwise you are beaten before you get off the blocks." An island state with 69,000 inhabitants, the team has just five officials, including chef de mission Mickey Joseph and Olympic President Rosanne Pringle-Pierre.
The host nation (population 1.3 billion) can call on 1099 officials, but Chris added: "When I bleed, I bleed Dominican blood. This was the only country for me to compete for. I am here with a real sense of pride."
Four hundred metres runner Erison believes being in the smallest team is just part of the spirit of the Games.
"This is the Olympics, the pinnacle of any athlete's career. This the big one. Aim for gold."
When asked if he really believed he could win, Erison, whose Dominican parents Arnold and Augustina are now both based in Washington DC, beamed: "That's my plan."
The men are careful about what they eat, choosing plenty of carbohydrates, chicken and salad. Without an army of dieticians, physios, and advisors, they rely on coach Jerome Romain, a triple jumper who finished 12th in the Atlanta Games, to guide them through.
Equitorial Guinea, whose swimmer Eric "the Eel" Moussambani hit the headlines for his exceptionally slow performance in swimming in Sydney, has three competitors in China. Iraq has two.
Team chief Mickey said: "That is the minimum you can have competing at the Olympics. We are proud this is the first time we have two athletes with the qualifying times."
Back home in Dominica, there is no daily newspaper and islanders follow the Olympics on radio or cable TV.
Jerome, 36 added: "We have a great chance of a medal this time. It would be fantastic for a little team like us."
Editor's Note
Chris Lloyd will compete in the 200M and the 400M while Erison Hurtault will compete in the 400M. Going into the olympics, Lloyd is ranked at number 26 in the world with a time of 20.31 seconds and at number 42 in the 400M with a time of 45.45 seconds. Hurtault is ranked at number 45 in the 400M with a time of 45.73 seconds.
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