Colonel William A. Phillips

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The British Virgin Islands competed at 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru from 26 July to 11 August 2019.[1][2]

The British Virgin Islands team of four athletes (three men and one woman) competing in two sports (athletics and sailing) was announced on 22 June 2019 as part of the 2nd annual Olympic Day Sports Festival. On the eve of the games, sprinter Ashley Kelly was added to the team, bringing the total team to five athletes. This represented a decline of one athlete from the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

During the opening ceremony of the games, sailor Thad Lettsome carried the flag of the country as part of the parade of nations.

The British Virgin Islands won its first ever gold medal and its first ever Pan American Games medal after Chantel Malone won the women's long jump track and field event. This was the country's only medal at the games, which ranked it a joint 23rd place with Barbados.

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors (per gender) participating at the games per sport/discipline. The British Virgin Islands entered five competitors (three men and two women) in two sports.[3][4] On the eve of the games, sprinter Ashley Kelly was added to the team, bringing the total team to five athletes.[5]

Sport Men Women Total
Athletics (track and field) 2 2 4
Sailing 1 0 1
Total 3 2 5

Medalists

The following competitors from The British Virgin Islands won medals at the games. In the by discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.

Medal Name Sport Event Date
 Gold Chantel Malone Athletics Women's long jump August 6

Athletics (track and field)

Main articles: Athletics at the 2019 Pan American Games and Athletics at the 2019 Pan American Games – Qualification
Chantel Malone won the country's first ever Pan American Games gold medal

The British Virgin Islands qualified four athletes (two men and two women).[6] Kyron McMaster qualified by winning gold at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.[7] However, McMaster had to withdraw a few days into the games due an injury he sustained at a Diamond League event earlier in the season.[8] Eldred Henry's performance during the 2019 indoor season also qualified him for the games.[7]

The track and field team saw three athletes competing. Eldred Henry, the only male competitor, finished in sixth place in the shot put event with a best throw of 19.82.[9] Sprinter and late addition to the team, Ashley Kelly, finished in 15th place during the heats with a time of 54.42.[9] This time was not good to advance to the final. Finally, the British Virgin Islands won its first ever gold medal and its first ever Pan American Games medal after Chantel Malone won the women's long jump track and field event.[10][11]

Key
  • Note–Ranks given for track events are for the entire round
Track events
Athlete Event Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Kyron McMaster Men's 400 m hurdles did not start
Ashley Kelly Women's 400 m 54.42 15 did not advance
Field events
Athlete Event Final
Distance Position
Eldred Henry Men's shot put 19.82 6
Chantel Malone Women's long jump 6.68 1st place, gold medalist(s)

Sailing

Main articles: Sailing at the 2019 Pan American Games and Sailing at the 2019 Pan American Games – Qualification

The British Virgin Islands received a universality spot in the men's laser event.[12][13][14] This marked the country's first appearance in the sport at the Pan American Games since the 1990s.[15] During the opening ceremony of the games, sailor Thad Lettsome carried the flag of the country as part of the parade of nations.[16][17] Lettsome finished in 19th place (out of 22) with a net points total of 153.[18] Lettsome was the youngest sailor in the field, at the age of 17.[18]

Men
Athlete Event Race Net Points Final Rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 M
Thad Lettsome Laser 20 16 20 19 19 15 19 18 11 16 Did not qualify 153 19

See also

References

  1. ^ "Participating Countries". www.lima2019.pe/. Lima Organizing Committee for the 2019 Pan and Parapan American Games (COPAL). Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Our 41 Members". www.panamsports.org/. Panam Sports. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  3. ^ Fay, Sofia (25 June 2019). "Lima 2019 Pan Am Games athletes announced at Olympic Day Sports Festival". www.bviolympics.org/. British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  4. ^ "PanAm Games: BVI Athletes all set for Lima 2019". Virgin Islands News Online. Virgin Islands. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Ashley N. Kelly added to VI's Pan Am Games team". Virgin Islands News Online. Virgin Islands. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Four locals qualify for 2019 Pan Am Games". BVI News. Tortola, British Virgin Islands. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b "PanAm Games: BVI Athletes all set for Lima 2019". Virgin Islands News Online. Virgin Islands. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  8. ^ Greenaway, Dean (30 July 2019). "Kyron A. McMaster out of 2019 Pan Am Games". Virgin Islands News Online. Virgin Islands. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  9. ^ a b Greenaway, Dean (8 August 2019). "Eldred Henry places 6th in Pan Am Games Shot Put". www.bviolympics.org/. British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Chantel E. Malone strikes gold @ 2019 Pan Am Games". Virgin Islands News Online. Virgin Islands. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  11. ^ Pavitt, Michael (7 August 2019). "British Virgin Islands secure maiden Pan American Games medal with long jump gold". Insidethegames.biz. Dunsar Media. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Status of NOC Qualification – 2019 Pan American Games – Sailing" (PDF). panamsailing.org/. Pan American Sailing Federation. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Record growth for 2019 Pan Am Games". www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  14. ^ "26 nations to compete at the 2019 Panam Games". www.sailing.org/. World Sailing. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  15. ^ Fay, Sofia (18 April 2019). "VI sailors make news – Thad Lettsome selected for Lima 2019 PanAm Games". www.bviolympics.org/. British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  16. ^ Greenaway, Dean (28 July 2019). "Bvi Makes Splash in Pan Am Games Opening Ceremony". www.bviolympics.org/. British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Abanderados Lima 2019" [Flagbearers Lima 2019] (PDF). www.lima2019.pe/ (in Spanish). Lima 2019 Organizing Committee for the 2019 Pan and Parapan American Games. 27 July 2019. p. 4. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Thad Lettsome Ends on a High at the Pan American Games". www.caribbean-sailing.com/. Caribbean Sailing. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Virgin_Islands_at_the_2019_Pan_American_Games