Background
Before Beijing, the Bahamas had participated in the Summer Olympics thirteen times. This included every single Summer Olympics starting from the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, but excluding the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the Soviet Union. The Bahamas had, as of 2008, never had an appearance in any Winter Olympics. The Bahamian delegation in Beijing included twenty-five athletes, one of its largest delegations in its history up to that point. Prior to Beijing, Bahamian athletes had won four gold medals, one silver and four bronze; a total of nine medals. Bahama's delegation in Beijing added one silver and one bronze medal to the tally, increasing the total number of Bahamian medals to eleven. The flag bearer at ceremonies was Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie. The Bahamian delegation was 41st in line during the flagbearing ceremonies.
Bahamian Olympic coach Keith Parker, prior to the start of the Olympic track events, said that Derrick Atkins held a strong chance of medaling in his events, having considered Atkin's unexpected medaling at the 2007 World Championships, tying Jamaica's Asafa Powell and the United States' Tyson Gay for second place. Similar expectations were held for Chris Brown. Henry Rolle, the track coach at Auburn University, traveled to Beijing to train former athletes at Tianjin University. Several Bahamians were included in this group.
Read more about this topic: Bahamas At The 2008 Summer Olympics
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