Virgin Islands at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Virgin Islands, also known as the United States Virgin Islands and officially as the Virgin Islands of the United States, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the territory's twelfth appearance at the Summer Olympics.

Virgin Islands at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United States Virgin Islands
IOC code	ISV
NOC	Virgin Islands Olympic Committee
Website	www.virginislandsolympics.com
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors	7 in 4 sports
Flag bearer	Cy Thompson[1]
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

The Virgin Islands Olympic Committee selected a team of seven athletes, five men and two women, to compete in four different sports at the Games.^[2] This was the same number of athletes and one more sport than at London in 2012.

Three of the athletes had also competed four years earlier, including triple jumper Muhammad Halim and sprinter LaVerne Jones-Ferrette, who headed to her fourth straight Games as the oldest and most experienced member (aged 35) of the team. Laser sailor and Pan American Games finalist Cy Thompson led his delegation as the flag bearer for the Virgin Islands in the opening ceremony.^[1]

The US Virgin Islands, however, failed to win a single Olympic medal in Rio de Janeiro. The nation's previous medal feat happened at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where sailor Peter Holmberg bagged the silver in the Finn class.

Athletics (track and field)

Main articles: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Athletes from the Virgin Islands achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):^[3][4]

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
• NM = No mark

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Eddie Lovett	Men's 110 m hurdles	13.77	7	Did not advance
LaVerne Jones-Ferrette	Women's 200 m	23.35	6	Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Muhammad Halim	Men's triple jump	NM	—	Did not advance

Boxing

Main articles: Boxing at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Boxing at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Virgin Islands entered one boxer to compete in the Olympic boxing tournament in the men's super heavyweight division. Clayton Laurent claimed his Olympic spot with a box-off victory at the 2016 American Qualification Tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[5]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Clayton Laurent	Men's super heavyweight	Pfeifer (GER) W 2–1	Yoka (FRA) 0L 0–3	Did not advance

Sailing

Main articles: Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Sailors from the Virgin Islands qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, the individual fleet Worlds, and North American qualifying regattas.^[6]

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Cy Thompson	Men's Laser	13	4	11	35	32	33	6	20	17	16	EL	152	19

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Virgin Islands received a Universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics.^[7][8]

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Rexford Tullius	Men's 200 m backstroke	1:59.14	20	Did not advance
Caylee Watson	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:07.19	30	Did not advance

See also

• Virgin Islands at the 2015 Pan American Games

References

1. "RWU Sailing alum Cy Thompson competing in his second Olympic Games". Roger Williams University. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
2. "Virgin Islands Olympic Committee (VIOC) Announces Rio Olympic Team". Virgin Islands Olympic Committee. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
3. "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
4. "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Rio 2016 Entry Standards" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
5. "Reigning Champions Claressa Shields and Roniel Iglesias secure Olympic qualification in Buenos Aires". AIBA. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
6. "Rio 2016 Olympic Laser Spots Snapped Up At Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds". ISAF. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
7. "Swimming World Rankings". FINA. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
8. "Rio 2016 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Rio 2016. FINA. Retrieved 23 January 2015.

External links

• "Virgin Islands, US at the 2016 Summer Olympics (Rio2016.com)". Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• United States Virgin Islands at the 2016 Summer Olympics at SR/Olympics (archived)