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 to 12 August 2012. The country's participation in London marked its eighth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The British Virgin Islands delegation included two track and field athletes, 100 meter sprinters J'maal Alexander and Tahesia Harrigan-Scott. Alexander failed to progress through the heats whilst Harrigan-Scott was eliminated in her event's quarterfinals.

British Virgin Islands at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Flag of the British Virgin Islands
IOC code	IVB
NOC	British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee
Website	bviolympics.org
in London
Competitors	2 (1 man and 1 woman) in 1 sport
Flag bearer	Tahesia Harrigan-Scott[1]
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Background

The British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 31 December 1981.^[2] The territory joined Olympic competition at the 1984 Winter Olympics, and have had participated in every Summer Olympic Games since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.^[3] This made London their eighth appearance at a Summer Olympics.^[3] As of 2018, they have never won a medal in Olympic competition.^[3] The 2012 Summer Olympics were held from 27 July to 12 August 2012; a total of 10,568 athletes represented 204 National Olympic Committees.^[4] The British Virgin Islands delegation to London included two track and field athletes; J'maal Alexander and Tahesia Harrigan-Scott.^[5] Harrigan-Scott was chosen as the flag bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony and for the closing ceremony.^[6][7] She had also been the flag bearer during the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony four years prior.^[3]

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics

In this photo of competition during the 2012 Olympics, Harrigan-Scott is seen in lane two.

J'maal Alexander was 18 years old at the time of the London Olympics, and was making his Olympic debut.^[8] On 4 August, he took part in the preliminary round of the men's 100 meters. Assigned to heat three, he ran his race in a time of 10.92 seconds, fourth in his heat, but only the top two from each heat plus the next two fastest overall from all four heats could advance and he was eliminated, the slowest qualifying time being 10.80 seconds.^[9] The gold medal was eventually won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica in 9.63 seconds (an Olympic record time); silver was won by Yohan Blake also of Jamaica, and bronze was taken by the American Justin Gatlin.^[10]

Tahesia Harrigan-Scott was 30 years old at the time, and the native of the United States Virgin Islands had previously represented the British Virgin Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[11] She was the reigning bronze medalist from the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 60 meters event.^[12] Because of her qualifying pre-Olympic time, she received a bye through the preliminary round on 3 August, which consisted of four heats.^[13][14] In the first round proper, which was the quarterfinals of the event, later that day, she was assigned to the first heat and ran a time of 11.59 seconds, which was seventh in her heat.^[15] As the top three from each heat plus the next three fastest from all seven heats advanced to the quarterfinals, this meant she was eliminated as the slowest qualifying time was 11.35 seconds.^[15] Gold was eventually won by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica in 10.75 seconds; silver was won by Carmelita Jeter of the United States, and bronze was taken by Veronica Campbell-Brown, also of Jamaica.^[16] Harrigan-Scott would again go on to compete for the British Virgin Islands at the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[11]

Key

• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
J'maal Alexander	Men's 100 m	10.92	4	did not advance
Tahesia Harrigan-Scott	Women's 100 m	Bye		11.59	7	did not advance

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only

See also

• British Virgin Islands at the 2011 Pan American Games

References

1. Staff (21 July 2012). "British Virgin Islands Team ready for London ". BVI News. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
2. "Virgin Islands, British – National Olympic Committee (NOC)". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
3. "British Virgin Islands". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
4. "London 2012 Summer Olympics – results & video highlights". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
5. "British Virgin Islands at the 2012 London Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
6. "London 2012 Closing Ceremony – Flag Bearers" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
7. "London 2012 Opening Ceremony – Flag Bearers" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
8. "J'maal Alexander Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
9. "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Preliminary Round". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
10. "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Final". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
11. "Tahesia Harrigan-Scott Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
12. "60 Metres Result – 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships". International Association of Athletics Federations. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
13. Greenway, Dean (3 August 2012). "Harrigan-Scott Kicks Off Olympic Games Competition Tonight". FloSports. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
14. "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Preliminary Round". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
15. "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Round One". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
16. "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Final". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2018.