The young athletes confirmed to represent the Virgin Islands at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in swimming, sailing and athletics will be announced this Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Tortola Sports Club during Olympic Day celebrations. Photo: supplied

The Logo of the British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee (BVIOC). Image: supplied

The afternoon programme of events will take place between 4.00pm and 6.00pm and will include a special presentation of the Olympic Participant Pin by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to Peter Adam Crook, the VI’s half-pipe skier at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: supplied

The afternoon programme of events will take place between 4.00pm and 6.00pm and will include a special presentation of the Olympic Participant Pin by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to Peter Adam Crook, the VI’s half-pipe skier at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The annual, symbolic Olympic Day 2-mile walk/run will close out the activities. The events are free and open to the public.

“The BVIOC wants the whole community to come out and support our young Olympians-to-be and to get involved with the message of Olympism,” said Ephraim Penn, President of the BVIOC.

“We will have with us some of the young athletes who will be representing the Virgin Islands at the highest level of global competition. This will be the first time that the Territory will be represented in the sports of swimming and sailing at the Youth Olympic Games. These participants, along with those from the sport of athletics, have worked extremely hard to qualify as competitors and the BVIOC is excited to see their efforts come to fruition.”

The Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games will take place in Nanjing, China from August 16 – 28, approximately six months after the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games during which the VI was represented in the half-pipe ski event by Peter Adam Crook.

“Olympic Day is an occasion to highlight the Olympic values of Respect, Excellence, and Friendship,” noted Penn. “The philosophy requires us to be responsible citizens and to work towards unity through Respect for what has been entrusted to us, striving for Excellence in all that we do, and to foster local and global Friendships. He may not have achieved the score-board results hoped for, but Adam most recently demonstrated these values during his time at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia and this will be a fitting occasion to recognize his contribution to the Virgin Islands’ Olympic history.”

The activities, supported by Road Town Wholesale, distributors of Dasani and Coca Cola, will start at 4.00pm when runners and walkers can register for the symbolic Olympic Day walk/run. Participants will start from the Tortola Sports Club (TSC) at 5.00pm and will proceed west through Road Town and return to the sports club. Participants will receive a free tee-shirt and a certificate of participation on completion of the walk/run.

The Olympic Day run in Virgin Gorda will start at 6.30am (registration 6.00am) from the Virgin Gorda Centre, HLSCC, The Valley. For details, contact Gloreah Gibson at gloreahgibson@hotmail.com or tel: 547-7404. Further, the BVI Triathlon Federation will host a Children’s Olympic Day Triathlon at Sandy Cay Boatyard, located immediately past the turning for Soper's Hole, starting at 8:30 am. For details, contact Richard Morgan on 346-6002.