British Virgin Islands at the 2012 Summer Olympics

The British Virgin Islands sent a delegation to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, which took place between 27 July and 12 August 2012. The territory's participation in London marked its eighth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Background

The British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 31 December 1981. The territory first joined Olympic competition at the 1984 Winter Olympics and has participated in every Summer Olympic Games since 1984. The 2012 Games were the eighth Summer Olympics appearance for the British Virgin Islands. As of 2012, the territory had never won an Olympic medal.

The 2012 Summer Olympics featured 10,568 athletes representing 204 National Olympic Committees. The British Virgin Islands delegation consisted of two track and field athletes: J'maal Alexander and Tahesia Harrigan-Scott. Harrigan-Scott was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies.

Competitors

The British Virgin Islands entered two competitors (one man and one woman) in a single sport: athletics (track and field).

Athletics

Men's 100 metres

J'maal Alexander was 18 years old at the time of the London Olympics and was making his Olympic debut. On 4 August, he competed in the preliminary round of the men's 100 metres. Assigned to heat three, he ran a time of 10.92 seconds, finishing fourth in his heat. Only the top two from each heat plus the next two fastest overall from all four heats advanced, and he was eliminated. The slowest qualifying time was 10.80 seconds. The gold medal was won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica in an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds.

Women's 100 metres

Tahesia Harrigan-Scott was 30 years old at the time. A native of the United States Virgin Islands, she had previously represented the British Virgin Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics and was the reigning bronze medalist from the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 60 metres event. Because of her qualifying time, she received a bye through the preliminary round. In the first round (quarterfinals) on 3 August, she was assigned to heat one and ran a time of 11.59 seconds, finishing seventh in her heat. The top three from each heat plus the next three fastest overall advanced, and she was eliminated. The slowest qualifying time was 11.35 seconds. The gold medal was won by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica in 10.75 seconds.

Results

Note: Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only.

Medal Summary

The British Virgin Islands won no medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.