In this photo taken on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, cross-country skiers Gary and Angelica di Silvestri pose for a photo at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Mont. The American-born man and his Italian-born wife will be representing the tiny Caribbean island nation of Dominica at the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month. The former finance professionals, granted Dominica citizenship for their philanthropic work on the island, are finishing their training in Montana while hastily arranging their own visas, travel logistics and footing the bill for the entire expedition. (AP Photo/Janie Osborne)

Gary and Angelica di Silvestri called their Olympic story a "fairy tale" at the start of the Sochi Games. At this point, though, it's hard to call it anything other than a nightmare.

They've both missed their cross-country skiing events and spent time in the hospital — her for a broken nose, him for the stomach flu. While their unusual Olympic story was spreading, another story about an alleged underhanded financial deal they were involved in did too.

It hasn't been anything close to a gold-medal couple of weeks for the di Silvestris.



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Here's some background: Gary di Silvestri is a New York native who became very, very rich as a hedge-fund and asset manager. He met Angelica, who is from Italy, while studying there. They were rich enough to once own a 30,000-square-foot estate on a private island in Turks and Caicos. So they were also rich enough to essentially buy their way into the Winter Olympics.

The Caribbean island of Dominica (with a population of about 70,000) granted them citizenship, according to U-T San Diego, after they were involved in humanitarian projects there. The di Silvestris wouldn't reveal specific details about their work in Dominica. When Dominica wanted to send its first ever delegation to the Winter Olympics, they called on their fabulous pair of honorary citizens.

The di Silvestris — he's 47, she's 48 — formed the National Ski Association of Dominica, then competed in enough races to qualify for the Olympics. If you've got the financial means, it doesn't sound like a bad gig. But once they got to Sochi, Angelica di Silvestri says, everything turned really ugly.

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The day after carrying the Dominica flag in the opening ceremony, she says her husband woke up with sharp stomach pains. She told U-T San Diego:

“Gary’s illness occurred when a pipe in our village broke and there was brown water coming out of the faucets. He was taking a shower and did not pay attention to the color of the water. He also brushed his teeth with the same water. The following day, he developed very strong abdominal cramps and went to the clinic, where he was diagnosed as having caught acute bacterial gastroenteritis.”

Later that same day, Angelia clipped on her skis for a training session on one of the Olympic courses.

“The snow was very fast and hard,” she said in an email, “and at the terrible curve where many of the men fell during the sprints, I lost control of the skis and hit the protection fence. It was very lightly padded, not enough to prevent very serious injuries to my face. My coach was behind me and he helped me to the volunteers station, where I was loaded on a snowmobile, then an ambulance.”

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