Not altogether surprisingly, the country that has competed most often at the Summer Olympic Games without winning a medal, of any description, is the Principality of Liechtenstein. A tiny, doubly-landlocked country in the Upper Rhine Valley, between Switzerland and Austria, Liechtenstein has a total area of just 62 square miles and a population of approximately 38,400; it is the sixth-smallest country in the world, by both metrics.
Liechtenstein first participated in the so-called ‘Nazi Olympics’ in Berlin in 1936 and, with the exception of Melbourne in 1956 and Moscow in 1980, the National Olympic Committee of Liechtenstein has sent at least one athlete to compete in every Summer Olympics since. That said, Team Liechtenstein has never numbered more than 12 and, indeed, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens consisted of a single athlete. For the record, the athlete in question was shooter Oliver Geissmann, who failed to advance beyond the qualifying round in the 10-metre air rifle competition but did, of course, have the honour of carrying the national flag at the opening ceremony.
Predictably, granted its Alpine location (it is, in fact, the only country that lies entirely in the Alps), mostly mountainous terrain and frequent snowfall, Liechtenstein has fared better at the Winter Olympic Games. Once again, Team Liechtenstein has never numbered more than 13, but since making its Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936, has collected a total of ten medals – two gold, two silver and six bronze – seven of which were won by the same family.
Interestingly, Xaver Frick, a founder member and inaugural Secretary of the National Olympic Committee, competed at both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games. He ran in the heats of the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and was part of the 4 x 10-kilometre cross-country skiing relay team at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.