Europe’s tiniest states square off in the Olympic mini-games
A contest for countries with less than 1m people
THE RAIN clears and the lavish opening ceremony can begin. Princes and presidents, princesses and regents are greeted, dancers twirl and stomp and an Olympic flame is lit atop a 17th-century tower. For athletes from Europe’s nine smallest countries the games, which opened in the Montenegrin resort of Budva on May 27th, are their chance to win gold. It is the only group of countries where Cyprus is a superpower and Liechtenstein, which has no coast, is a serious competitor at beach volleyball.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Small is beautiful”
Europe June 1st 2019
From the June 1st 2019 edition
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