Bermuda sent its first team to the Olympic Games when they were held in Berlin, Germany in 1936. Since then, the island has sent athletes to many Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the 2024 event in Paris serving as no exception.
The timeline below highlights Bermuda athletes’ appearances at the Games from 1936 to today.
Bermuda sent its first team to the 1936 Olympic Games. The team comprised of Percy Belvin, Edmund Cooper, Forster Cooper, Leonard Spence, Dudley Spurling, and John Young.
Bermuda made its next appearance in the 1948 Olympics; the athletics team included Phyllis Edness, Phillis Lightbourn [Jones], Hazzard Dill, Perry Johnson, Stanley Lines, and Francis Mahoney. Francis Gosling participated in diving, and the swimming team featured Walter Bardgett, Robert Cook, Derek Oatway, Donald Shanks, and Philip Tribley.
Bermuda was represented by six athletes, two each in swimming, diving and athletics, at the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.
In the 1956 Olympics, Bermuda fielded a three-person team – Brownlow Eve, James Kempe, and Bernard Ward – who all competed in sailing
The 1960 Olympics was the second consecutive Summer Olympics that Bermuda fielded a team consisting entirely of sailors; with Albert Darrell, Richard Divall, Brownlow Eve, Brownlow Gray, Norman Jones, Walter Jones, James Kempe, Richard Masters, and DeForest Trimingham all representing the island
The 1964 Olympics was the third consecutive Summer Olympics that Bermuda fielded a team consisting entirely of sailors; with Kirk Cooper, Jay Hooper, Penny Simmons, and Conrad Soares all representing Bermuda.
A Bermuda team of six athletes, including four sailors, travelled to Mexico City, Mexico, for the Olympic Games in 1968.
Nine Bermudian athletes, including seven sailors, travelled to Munich, Germany, for the Olympic Games in 1972.
The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, marked a historic milestone for Bermuda as boxer Clarence Hill won the island’s first-ever Olympic medal, placing Bermuda on the map as the smallest country or territory to win a Summer Olympic medal.
Bermuda sent a team of 12 athletes, including a trio of cyclists, to represent the island at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
The 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, is notable in that Bermuda was represented in six different sports, the largest variety of sports at that time.
The year 1992 was a landmark moment for Bermuda, with Simon Payne etching his name in the history books as the first Bermudian to make an appearance in the Winter Olympics, where he placed 30th in the men’s single luge in a time of 3:11.173.
A team of 20 athletes, including Bermuda’s “Three Musketeers” – Brian Wellman, Troy Douglas and Clarence “Nicky” Saunders – represented the island at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
Simon Payne made his second Winter Olympic appearance for Bermuda, where he placed 30th in the men’s single luge finishing in a time of 3:30.637 in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway.
Bermuda travelled to Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games with a team of ten athletes, including three from track and field.
Bermuda’s athletes competed for the first time at the Paralympic Games in 1996, with equestrians Kirsty Anderson and Phyllis Harshaw representing the island.
Patrick Singleton made his debut at the Winter Olympics in Japan, placing 27th in the men’s single luge.
Bermuda sent a team of five athletes to the 2020 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia,, and sailor Peter Bromby and his crew Lee White earned the third-highest placement in the nation’s Olympic history with a fourth-place finish in the Star class.
Alexander J Mitchell and Kirsty Anderson represented Bermuda in equestrian at the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000.
Patrick Singleton was the island’s sole competitor at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, placing 37th in the men’s single luge.
The 2004 Olympics for Bermuda were notable as the island fielded the first ever Black woman to compete in Olympic diving, with Katura Horton-Perinchief literally diving into history. It also marked the first ever showing by Bermuda in triathlon, as Tyler Butterfield made Bermuda’s debut in triathlon.
Equestrian pair Kirsty Anderson and Alexander J Mitchell travelled to Athens, Greece, to compete at the Paralympics in Athens, Greece, in 2004.
Patrick Singleton was Bermuda’s sole representative at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy in 2006, placing nineteenth in the men’s skeleton.
Bermuda sent a team of six athletes to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, including a 20-year-old triathlete named Flora Duffy.
Alexander J Mitchell represented Bermuda in equestrian at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, in 2008.
Tucker Murphy made his debut at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada in 2010, placing 88th in the 15 kilometre freestyle in cross country skiing.
Bermuda sent a team of eight athletes to the Olympic Games in London in 2012, with Tyrone Smith enjoying his best showing when he reached the men’s long jump final, finishing twelfth with a leap of 7.70 metres.
Jessica Lewis competed at her first Paralympic Games in London, Great Britain, in 2012, becoming the first Bermudian to make an appearance in the Paralympic Games.
Tucker Murphy, competing at his second Winter Olympics, placed 84th in the 15 kilometre in classical cross country skiing.
Bermuda sent a team of eight athletes to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, including six who were making their debuts at this level.
Bermuda was represented by sprinter Jessica Lewis and boccia player Yushae Desilva-Andrade in the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.
Tucker Murphy, who was making his third Winter Olympics appearance, was Bermuda’s sole competitor at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where he placed 100th in the men’s 15-kilometre freestyle Cross Country Skiing, finishing in a time of 43:05.700.
This Olympics was a momentous event, as it saw Dame Flora Duffy win the island’s first-ever gold medal, with the triathlete making Bermuda the smallest country or territory in history to win a Summer Olympic gold medal. Dara Alizadeh was the second competitor for Bermuda, making his debut in rowing.
Sprinter Jessica Lewis became a three-time Paralympian when she represented Bermuda at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021 – a Games postponed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
