The BVI at Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games

The time has come for Peter Adam Crook, the British Virgin Islands competitor in the free style, half-pipe event, to represent the territory in the Winter games. Adam will be the proud flag bearer for the BVI at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony on February 7 at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in the Olympic Park. The qualifier and finals of the ski half pipe competition will take place from 8.30am to 12.30pm AST on February 18 in the Rosa Khutor Extreme park.

The opening ceremony will be broadcast live by NBC and the Caribbean cable television sports channel, SportsMax on channels 301 and 302 at 12.00pm noon AST.

Adam arrives into Sochi on February 5 and will be accommodated in the Mountain Olympic Village along with his coach, Luke “OCHO” Allen. Accompanying Adam and his coach is the subscribed BVI contingent as allotted by the International Olympic Committee regulations governing the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The BVI delegation comprises the vice president of the British Virgin Islands Ski Association, Barney Crook, Chef de Mission, Mark Chapman, BVI Olympic Committee (BVIOC) president, Ephraim Penn, and BVIOC secretary general, Lloyd Black. Adam’s family and friends have also committed to attend the games and will be in Sochi to show their support.

Adam, British Virgin Islands born and alumnus of Cedar International School, has been skiing since he was nine years old and nurtured a dream to be a professional skier from the age of eleven. With his family home based in the BVI, Adam has spent his time between surfing in the BVI and skiing in the USA to finally realize his ambition of representing the BVI at the Winter Olympic Games.

The British Virgin Islands Ski Association was formed in 2010 under the auspices of the BVI Olympic Committee. Once sanctioned by the BVIOC, Adam was inducted into the International Ski Federation and represented the BVI in international competitions including Olympic qualifiers. In August 2013, Adam took 10th place at the World Cup held in Cardrona, New Zealand. He is currently ranked No. 27 in the world by the Association of Freeski Professionals.

The BVI made its Olympic debut at the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympic Games when Errol ‘Canute’ Fraser represented the territory in speed skating. He is believed to be the first black speed skater to compete in the Winter Olympics.

Updates on Adam’s training and experiences at Sochi 2014 will be posted on the BVIOC page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/BVI-Olympic-Committee). Fans can show their support by downloading the special ‘Go BVI!’ banner from the BVIOC website http://bviolympics.org/.