American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

sent a delegation to compete at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

from 12–27 February 1994. This was the territory's first, and as of the conclusion of the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

, only Winter Olympics they have competed in. The delegation consisted of two athletes, Faauuga Muagututia and Brad Kiltz, who competed in the two-man bobsleigh event where they finished 39th.

Background

The American Samoa National Olympic Committee was recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

on January 1, 1987, and the territory made its Olympic debut the next year at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in South Korea. They have competed in every Summer Olympics since, but have only participated in the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

this once, in 1994 in Lillehammer. For the 1994 Winter Olympics, the territory's delegation consisted of one two-man bobsleigh team. Faauuga Muagututia was chosen as the flag bearer for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

Bobsleigh

Brad Kiltz, who was 36 years old at the time of the Games, is a native of

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, able to compete for American Samoa because the American territory has the same nationality as the United States. Faauuga Muagututia, who was 35 years old at the time of the Games, is a native of American Samoa. Muagututia, as the driver, was the only one required to be from American Samoa. At the time of the Games, Muagututia was serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as a

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

, while Kiltz was working as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. The two-man bobsleigh event was held in four runs over two days, on February 19–20, 1994. Final standings were based on the sum of all four runs for each team. On the 19th, in runs 1 and 2, they posted a time of 55.57 seconds and 55.25 seconds, respectively. At the end of the first day, they were ranked 42nd out of 43 sleds. On the second day, they posted run times of 55.06 and 55.16 seconds. Their faster times on the second day allowed them to finish with a time of 3 minutes and 41.04 seconds, which placed them 39th out of 42 sleds which completed all four runs.

References

{{Nations at the 1994 Winter Olympics Nations at the 1994 Winter Olympics

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1994 in American Samoan sports

Background

Competitors

Bobsleigh

See also

References