Angelica di Silvestri
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| Birth name | Angelica Morrone | ||||||
| Born |
November 25, 1965 (age 51) Cosenza, Italy |
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Medal record
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Angelica Morrone di Silvestri (born November 25, 1965 in Cosenza, Italy) is a cross-country skier who competed for Dominica at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Cross-country skiing race. Her olympic appearance is widely controversial, after it was exposed that di Silvsestri, and her husband Gary di Silvestri, paid to become Dominica citizens and lied to media outlets about various aspects of their lives.
Di Silestri has been accused of being a "tax dodger" by Deadspin, after it was revealed that Prosecutors in Turks and Caicos Islands have linked the pair to a massive tax-fraud case related to the sale of Emerald Cay, a mansion di Silvestri and Morrone built on their own island.
The website Deadspin published an additional investigative article that disputed multiple aspects of di Silvestri's background.
The couple told various media outlets they were awarded citizenship through "philanthropic activities", but declined to elaborate. It was later revealed that any married couple can become Dominicans by depositing $175,000 "into the appropriate account at the National Commercial Bank of Dominica," and paying the Ministry of Finance another $3,530 in tariffs and fees.
Angelica has also been accused of bribing Olympic officials on behalf of her then-employer, Fiat.
When confronted by various media outlets about their questionable claims, di Silvestri did not respond to inquiries or declined comment.
U-T San Diego also published an article questioning the couple's qualification process for the games. Skiers earn the points by competing in qualifying races, which the couple gained by entering lower level tournaments in New Zealand and across North America. Gary finished last in four of six races and Angelica finished in the bottom three in 13 of the 14 races she participated in.
Gary still met the standard, but Angelica was in danger of missing out until she went to a small competition for college students in Maine. The report states she only finished in 74th place out of 95 finishers in the freestyle race, but that was still enough to get her point total under the Olympic threshold.
Gary di Silvestri competed along with his wife, Angelica, during the 2014 Games. However, neither was able to complete their respective races. Gary was one of four competitors to not finish his 15 km event (there was also one non-starter). Of the four skiers who did not finish, Gary was the only one to not manage to make it to the first checkpoint (at 2.2 km). Angelica didn't even show up for the 10K women's classic on Feb. 13, claiming injury. (She was the only one of the race's 76 entrants who didn't start).
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