St Helena's Commonwealth Games team have completed their 10-day journey to Glasgow which saw them travel over 8,500 miles via air and sea.
Six athletes and two officials from the tiny South Atlantic Ocean island, which has a population of 4,000 people, departed for a five-day crossing to Cape Town on July 11.
Only on Monday, 48 hours before the start of the games, did they arrive in Scotland following a three-day stop in Amsterdam, and their trip has forced them into adopting some unconventional practice methods.
"It has been all-out, non-stop travelling," 22-year-old badminton player Lee Yon told reporters. "It took 10 days to get here."
Yon's team manager Nick Stevens added: "I got him to do some shadow play, so he was doing his strokes without the racquet and the shuttle on the top deck, similar to shadow boxing. But the area to practise in was not even the size of a badminton court."
St Helena have competed in six Commonwealth Games and are yet to win a medal. They will be participating in swimming, shooting and badminton at this summer's spectacle.
Joe Fish
