The Bahamas sent a delegation of athletes to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from 8 to 24 August 2008. Its Beijing appearance marked its fourteenth time at the Olympics since its début at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. The delegation included 25 athletes across four sports (track and field, boxing, swimming and tennis) and nineteen distinct events. Its athletes advanced to semifinals in eight events and finals in five events, medaling in two of them (a silver in men's 4x400 meters relay by Andretti Bain, Michael Mathieu, Andrae Williams, Chris Brown, Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller, and a bronze in men's triple jump by Leevan Sands). The Bahamian delegation was one of the largest sent between its début and 2008. The country's flag bearer was Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie.

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.

Medalists

Medal Name Sport Event Andretti BainMichael MathieuAndrae WilliamsChris BrownAvard MoncurRamon Miller Athletics Men's 4 × 400 metre relay Leevan Sands Athletics Men's triple jump

Athletics

Men's competition

Eleven male athletes competed in track and field events on behalf of the Bahamas. Of those athletes, three participated in the 4 × 400 meters relay only (Williams, Moncur, Miller); five participated only in events other than the 4 × 400 meters relay (Atkins, Rolle, L. Sands, S. Sands, and Thomas), and three participated in both an individual event and the 4 × 400 meters relay. Of the individual events, Bahamian athletes were involved in six distinct events (100 meters, 40 meters, 200 meters, triple jump, 110 meters hurdles, and high jump). The two Bahamian medals won at Beijing were won by men in track and field events (4 × 400 meters relay and triple jump).

Men's high jump

Donald Thomas was the sole Bahamian athlete participating in the men's high jump event of the Beijing Olympics. During the event's qualification round on 17 August, Thomas was placed in the first heat versus competitors that included the Czech Republic's Jaroslav Baba and Great Britain's Germaine Mason. Thomas' best height cleared during this preliminary round was 2.20 meters, the same height as Israeli Nikita Palli; Pole Michal Bieniek; Syrian Majed Aldin Gazal; and American Dusty Jonas. However, Thomas tied Palli for twelfth place and scored ahead of Bieniek, Gazal and Jonas because Palli and Thomas had no misses at the high jump bar; the other three athletes did. Overall, Thomas tied Ukrainian Dmytro Dem'yanyuk and also Palli for twenty-first place out of the forty competing athletes. Thomas did not advance to the final round.

Men's 200 meters

Jamaal Rolle (or Jamial Rolle) competed on behalf of the Bahamas in the men's 200 meters. Rolle was placed in the seventh heat of eight heats during the 17 August qualification round. Facing competitors that included the Dutch Antillean Churandy Martina, Azerbaijani Ramil Guliyev, and Nigerian Obinna Metu, Rolle ranked fifth out of eight athletes in his heat after completing his event in 20.93 seconds. Rolle scored ahead of sixth-place finalist Shingo Suetsugu of Japan, and behind fourth-place finalist Sandro Viana of Brazil, falling 0.09 seconds behind the latter. Overall, Rolle ranked thirty-fourth out of the sixty-six athletes who participated in the first round. He did not progress to further rounds.

Men's 110 meters hurdles

Auburn University graduate Shamar Sands reached the quarterfinals in the 110 meter hurdles. During the qualification round on 17 August, Sands was placed in the second heat, facing competitors that included America's David Oliver and Spain's Jackson Quiñónez. Sands ranked third out of seven athletes, completing his event in 13.45 seconds. He placed 0.04 seconds behind second-place heat finalist Quiñónez, and 0.15  seconds behind heat leader Oliver. Overall, Sands ranked eighth out of the forty-three athletes who participated in the qualification round. Sands progressed to quarterfinals, where he was again placed in the second heat. Completing the event with a time of 13.55 seconds, Sands ranked seventh in the heat of eight athletes behind South Korea's Lee Jeong-Jun and ahead of Georgia's David Ilariani. Sands fell behind heat leader Dayron Robles of Cuba by 0.36 seconds and did not progress further.

Men's 100 meters

Jamaican-born runner Derrick Atkins was the only Bahamian to participate in the men's 100 meters race at the Beijing Olympics. Atkins was placed in the eighth heat during the 14 August qualification round, facing athletes that included Russia's Andrey Epishin and Norway's Jaysuma Saidy Ndure. Atkins ranked first in his heat of eight athletes with a time of 10.28 seconds, defeating second-place heat finalist Epishin by 0.06 seconds. Of the 80 athletes who participated in the qualification round of the event, Atkins tied Cuban Jenris Vizcaino for eighteenth place. He advanced to quarterfinals on 15 August. At quarterfinals, Atkins participated in the fifth heat against athletes that included Walter Dix of the United States and Asafa Powell of Jamaica. Atkins finished in third place in his heat with a time of 10.14 seconds, falling behind Walter Dix, who ranked second with a time of 10.08 seconds; and placing ahead of Antigua and Barbuda's Daniel Bailey, who ranked fourth with a time of 10.23 seconds. Of the four quarterfinalists, Atkins tied Ndure for fourteenth place, and advanced to the 16 August semifinals. Atkins competed in the first heat against, among other athletes, Dix and Usain Bolt. With a time of 10.13 seconds, Atkins finished in sixth place in his heat, behind Saint Kitts and Nevis' Kim Collins (who earned a time of 10.05 seconds) and ahead of Great Britain's Tyrone Edgar (who earned a time of 10.18 seconds). Overall, Atkins ranked twelfth out of sixteen athletes in semifinals, and did not advance to the final round.

Men's triple jump

Auburn University graduate and two-time Olympian Leevan Sands, the cousin of Shamar Sands, was the sole Bahamian participant in the men's triple jump event. During the qualification round on 17 August, Sands was placed in the second heat against competitors that included Li Yanxi of China, Onochie Achike of Great Britain, and Hector Fuentes of Cuba. Sands ranked second in his heat of twenty athletes, jumping a distance of 17.25 meters. Li, the heat leader, beat Sands by 0.05 meters, while Achike del behind Sands by 0.07 meters. Overall, Sands ranked fifth out of the thirty-nine participating athletes. He progressed to the final round on 21 August. During that round, Sands jumped a distance of 17.59 meters, medaling bronze behind silver medalist Phillips Idowu of Great Britain (who jumped 17.62 meters) and gold medalist Nelson Évora of Portugal (who jumped 17.67 meters).

Men's 400 meters

Oral Roberts University athlete Andretti "Dretti" Bain, two-time medalist and three-time Olympian Chris Brown, and Adidas-sponsored athlete Michael Mathieu participated in the men's 400 meters dash. Brown was placed in the second heat, and finished first with a time of 44.79 seconds, ahead of second-place finalist Australian Joel Milburn. Bain was placed in the third heat, and placed third out of eight athletes after gaining a time of 45.96 seconds, placing behind Nigeria's Godday James (who finished with 45.49 seconds) and ahead of Fiji's Niko Verekauta (who finished with 46.32 seconds). Mathieu participated in the sixth heat and ranked third out of eight athletes, earning a time of 45.17 seconds. He placed ahead of Jamaica's Michael Blackwood (who earned 45.56 seconds) and behind Trinidad and Tobago's Renny Quow (who earned 45.13 seconds). Out of all fifty-six athletes participating in the event, Chris Brown ranked first; Michael Mathieu tied Australia's Sean Wroe for tenth; and Bain ranked thirty-first. All three advanced to semifinals, which took place on 19 August. During the course of semifinals, Brown was placed in the first heat; Bain was placed in the second; and Mathieu was placed in the third. Chris Brown finished the event in 44.59 seconds, ranking second in the heat behind American Jeremy Wariner and ahead of Belgian Kevin Borlée. Bain completed the event in 45.42 seconds, placing seventh in his heat, ahead of Briton Andrew Steele and Nigerian Godday James. Mathieu completed the race in 45.56 seconds, placing sixth in his heat out of eight competitors. Mathieu ranked ahead of seventh-place finisher Wroe and behind Congolese competitor Senga Gary Kikaya. Out of the 24 competitors who advanced to semifinals, Brown finished third; Bain finished nineteenth; and Mathieu finished twentieth. Only Brown advanced to the final round on 21 August. Brown finished the event in 44.84 seconds, placing fourth behind the three American medalists (LaShawn Merritt, Jeremy Wariner and David Neville).

Men's 4 × 400 meters relay

The men's 4×400 meters relay included a Bahamian team that, in total, included six Bahamian athletes. Of those athletes, Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller participated only in the qualification round alongside Michael Mathieu and Andrae Williams. In the qualification round, which took place on 22 August, the Bahamian team participated on the second heat against the British, Jamaican, Trinidadian, Japanese, Greek and Dominican teams. Overall, the Bahamian team ranked second in the heat with a time of 2:59.88 behind the British team (which earned a time of 2:59.33) and ahead of the Jamaican team (which earned a time of 3:00.09). Out of all sixteen teams participating in the event, the Bahamian team ranked second. The Bahamas' relay proceeded to the final round on 23 August. During the final round, the Bahamian relay replaced Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller with Chris Brown and Andretti Bain. Chris Brown started the relay, followed by Mathieu; Bain; and Williams. With a time of 2:58.03, the relay medaled silver behind the American relay (which earned 2:55.39 and set an Olympic record) and ahead of the Russian relay (which earned 2:58.06).

Summary

Men Track & road events AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRankDerrick Atkins100 m10.281 Q10.143 Q10.13 6Did not advanceAndretti Bain400 m45.963 Qcolspan=2 45.527Did not advanceChris Brown44.791 Qcolspan=2 45.592 Q44.844Michael Mathieu45.173 Qcolspan=2 45.566Did not advanceJamial Rolle200 m20.93 5Did not advanceShamar Sands110 m hurdles13.45 3 Q13.556Did not advanceAndretti BainMichael MathieuAndrae WilliamsChris BrownAvard Moncur*Ramon Miller*4 × 400 m relay2.59.88 2 Qcolspan=4 2:58.03 * Runners who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Field events