Bahamas at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Bahamas at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Bahamas
IOC code	BAH
NOC	Bahamas Olympic Committee
Website	www.bahamasolympiccommittee.org
in Athens
Competitors	22 in 3 sports
Flag bearer	Debbie Ferguson[1]
Medals Ranked 52nd	Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 0 1 2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

The Bahamas competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the United States boycott.

The Bahamas Olympic Association sent a total of 22 athletes, 13 men and 9 women, to compete only in athletics (the nation's strongest field), swimming, and tennis. The Bahamian team featured numerous athletes who entered the Games as medal contenders in their respective events, including Tonique Williams-Darling, Chandra Sturrup, Debbie Ferguson, and Chris Brown. Sprinter Debbie Ferguson, who helped the Bahamian team claim their first gold medal in the women's 4 × 100 m relay, was appointed by the association to carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremony.^[1]

Bahamas left Athens with a total of two individual Olympic medals (a gold and a bronze), summing it up to a stark tally of eight with six more from Sydney. The highlight of the Games for the Bahamian athletes came with a prestigious Olympic gold from Tonique Williams-Darling in the women's 400 metres on August 24, 2004.^[2][3] Meanwhile, Ferguson added a bronze to her career hardware in the women's 200 metres by the following day. Being the oldest athlete to reach the final at age 28, she was quoted after the race as saying "I think per capita, the Bahamas already won the Olympics", referring to the 2 medals won for the nation of approximately 325,000 people.^[4]

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Tonique Williams-Darling	Athletics	Women's 400 m	August 24
Bronze	Debbie Ferguson	Athletics	Women's 200 m	August 26

Athletics

Bahamian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).^[5][6]

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

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Chris Brown	400 m	45.09	1 Q	N/A		45.31	3	Did not advance
Dominic Demeritte	200 m	20.62	1 Q	20.61	6	Did not advance
Chris Brown Aaron Cleare Dennis Darling* Nathaniel McKinney Andrae Williams	4 × 400 m relay	3:01.74	3 Q	N/A				3:01.88	6

* Competed only in heats

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Osbourne Moxey	Long jump	7.81	21	Did not advance
Leevan Sands	Triple jump	16.35	27	Did not advance

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Christine Amertil	400 m	50.23	2 Q	N/A		50.17	2 Q	50.37	7
Debbie Ferguson	100 m	11.30	3 Q	11.16	3 Q	11.04	4 Q	11.16	7
	200 m	22.57	1 Q	22.53	2 Q	22.49	4 Q	22.30
Chandra Sturrup	100 m	11.37	3 Q	11.46	7	Did not advance
Tonique Williams-Darling	400 m	51.20	1 Q	N/A		50.00	1 Q	49.42
Shandria Brown Tamicka Clarke Debbie Ferguson Chandra Sturrup	4 × 100 m relay	43.02	2 Q	N/A				42.69	4

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Jackie Edwards	Long jump	6.53	=14	Did not advance
Laverne Eve	Javelin throw	62.11	6 Q	62.77	6

Swimming

Bahamian swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time):

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Jeremy Knowles	200 m butterfly	1:59.32	20	Did not advance
	200 m individual medley	2:04.22	30	Did not advance
	400 m individual medley	4:23.29	21	N/A		Did not advance
Nicholas Rees	100 m butterfly	56.39	50	Did not advance
Chris Vythoulkas	100 m backstroke	58.31	38	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Nikia Deveaux	50 m freestyle	27.36	45	Did not advance

Tennis

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Mark Knowles Mark Merklein	Men's doubles	González / Massú (CHI) L 5–7, 4–6	Did not advance

See also

• Bahamas at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
• Bahamas at the 2003 Pan American Games

References

1. "Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie was honored with one final tribute". Bahamas Local. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
2. "Tonique Williams-Darling Wins Gold Medal". Bahamas Post. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
3. "Williams claims 400m gold". BBC Sport. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
4. "Sprinter Debbie Ferguson Wins Olympic Bronze". Bahamas Post. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
5. "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
6. "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Athens 2004 Entry Standards". IAAF. Retrieved 4 June 2011.

External links

• Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad
• Bahamas Olympic Association