Gill went viral online not for his performance at the 100m sprints, but for his enthusiastic flag waving despite the pouring rain at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. As his country’s sole athlete, he became the flagbearer by default and poured his heart and soul into it. Gill waved Belize’s flag with patriotic zeal down the River Seine for the world to see. 

While some may find the solo mission lonely, Gill has been finding his experience in Paris quite the contrary after his appearance in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

"The experience so far has been awesome," Gill said. "The Tokyo Olympics was during COVID, so I didn’t get the true feeling of the Olympics because there were a bunch of protocols. So, now I'm getting the full experience, vibe, and energy. It's just amazing because, I mean, even just walking around like you just you just sense and feel the energy from everyone, especially since the opening ceremony. Everyone just has just been showing love and support like it's truly amazing."

Aside from Gill, three other athletes —from Liechtenstein, Nauru and Somalia— are the only representative of their country. 

Somalian Ali Idow Hassan is competing in Athletics just like Gill. Hassan has hoped to advance to the semi-finals and finished 8th in his heat on Wednesday. Hassan told the BBC he was “very happy” to be his nation’s solitary envoy at Paris 2024, but admitted he felt very sad when he is alone. Like Gill, he has befriended other athletes and said staying in the athletes’ village had been less isolating than might be expected.

In addition to being a solo athlete, Winzar Kakiouea carried an additional burden: Most people have no idea that his country is a country. The sprinter hails from Nauru an island nation perched in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a population of less than 13,000.

"Most people don’t know about Nauru," Kakiouea told The New York TImes. "When I tell them about it, they are shocked that this little, tiny place is a country."

That has stopped Kakiouea from enjoying the Olympics. He has traded pins with Serena Williams and taken photographs with Sha’Carri Richardson, while enjoying what the Olympic Village has to offer. 

But while Kakiouea gets to meet celebrity athletes, one other solo representative is being hunted down by one. 

Tennis great Andy Murray, hunted down Romano Püntener, a mountain-biker who represented Liechtenstein on his own, to trade Olympic pins. The recently retired tennis ace wanted the rare Liechtenstein pin, a country with only 38,000 people and top-level athletes have been few and far between. Pins are regularly traded by athletes touring the international circuit.

The Olympics had been "unforgettable" for Püntener, who said he had enjoyed the support he had received as his country's only hope at the 2024 Games.

"It felt like I got a message from every person living in Liechtenstein," said Püntener.

Gill agreed and said he had received "thousands" of well-wishes. 

"My phone freezes, my Instagram freezes," he said. "I had to turn it off at one point because I couldn’t even have a moment of peace to myself... I do appreciate it, but I guess I had to just learn how to manage it real quick."