Several years ago, the Polynesian island of Tonga held a tryout in hopes of finding the country鈥檚 first-ever Winter Olympian. They found Fuahea Semi, turned him into a luger, and changed his name to Bruno Banani鈥 that would sponsor his journey to the Olympic Games.
鈥淲e thought it was really cool and a little bit fun,鈥 explained Mathias Ihle, who works for Bruno Banani鈥檚 advertising agency, Makai.聽
鈥淲e have heard from other people who have names Bruno Banani. But this was a different kind of story, a great story. We watched him in a luge race in Germany, and we saw that he was coming down and doing a good job and he was finishing. So we said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 go for it.鈥欌
Banani, , qualified for Sochi after barely missing the Vancouver Games four years ago. Trained by his German coach, Banani鈥檚 Olympics will be defined by this weekend鈥檚 luge events.
After the Games, Banani hopes to continue competing and maintain his sponorship. But if it doesn’t work out, he plans to return to Tonga and find a job with computers, according to the聽.