On September 7, 2013, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020 to Tokyo, which was chosen over fellow Candidate Cities Istanbul and Madrid after two rounds of voting during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games originally slated for 2020 were rescheduled to take place one year later between 23 July – 8 August 2021, while the Tokyo Paralympic Games will be held between 24 August – 5 September 2021.
The BVI Olympic Committee’s preparations for its 10th Olympic appearance began in earnest when its first athlete qualified to compete at Tokyo 2020.
Eldred Henry (shot put) who competed in his first Olympics at Rio 2016, hit the qualifying mark in his event with a distance of 21.47m (70′ 5 1/4 “) at the Kingsville, Texas meet in May 2019. Unfortunately, an injury in his throwing arm that flared up in May 2021 forced Eldred to withdraw his entry allowing him to focus on recovery and build up for future competitions.
Kyron McMaster (400m Hurdles) was next to qualify for Tokyo 2020 when he placed fourth with at time of 48.10 at the Doha 2019 World Championships. He since went on to replace his previous national record with a time of 47.50 achieved in May 2021. Ranked number 4 in his event by World Athletics, this will be Kyron’s first Olympic appearance.
Chantel Malone (long jump) pulled a major result when she joined the long jump 7-meter club to surpass the Tokyo 2020 qualifying mark of 6.82m with a leap of 7.08m (23’ 2 3/4”)+1.4 wind at the Ansin Sports Complex, Miramar, FL (USA) in March 2021. This will be Chantel’s Olympic debut where she will compete ranked number 8 in her event by World Athletics.
Elinah Phillip (50m freestyle), who came close to making the Olympic selection mark of 25.51 with a time of 25.82 at the Michael Lohberg Invitational in Florida, USA in June 2021, secured her spot on the team through the Universality programme. Elinah first competed in the Olympics at Rio 2016 at 16 years of age. She was the first swimmer and the youngest athlete to represent the BVI at an Olympic Games.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Tokyo 2020 Games to be rescheduled, we know that it had a great impact on our athletes but they rallied, reset their focus and did tremendously in terms of setting new national records and personal bests as soon as their sports opened up again to competitions. I congratulate each of them on their impressive achievements and I echo the sentiment of the members of the Executive that we are excited to watch their performances,” said BVIOC President Ephraim Penn.
The Chef de Mission is Tahesia Harrigan-Scott is a 3-time Olympian who represented the BVI in athletics at various levels between 1998 through 2018. She was the first female to represent the BVI at an Olympic Games when she competed in the 100m at the Beijing 2008. She also competed at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. The current national 100m record holder, Tahesia ended her international career as a finalist in the 100 meter dash at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Open Championships in Toronto, Canada. She has also been a finalist at the Pan American and Commonwealth Games and a silver medalist in the 100m at the CAC Championships.
The BVI delegation includes BVIOC President Ephraim Penn, Secretary General Lloyd Black, Team Coach Winston Potter, 400m Hurdles Coach Lennox Graham, Long jump Coach Dwight Phillips and swimming Coach Brien Moffitt.
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