PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — After all the news media interviews, after dancing on “Ellen” and attending receptions in their honor, it was time for the three women of the Nigerian bobsled team to get on the ice at the Pyeongchang Games.

At first blush, it did not go so well, as their first trial runs on Saturday left them in last place, 19th out of 19, though official competition starts on Tuesday.

But then, they have attracted a following less because of their medal chances and more for their aim to break barriers and “to help women, the country, the continent,” as the team’s captain and driver, Seun Adigun of Houston, put it.

Theirs is a common tale of diaspora brought to the Olympics, where athletes born in one country often end up competing for another where they have familial ties. (One of two women competing for the Jamaican women’s bobsled team, which finished as high as ninth on one training run Saturday, was born in the United States.)