The last time the Virgin Islands participated in the Winter Olympics was in 1984, when Erroll Fraser competed in speed skating in Sarajevo.
But the hiatus came to an end on Tuesday morning, when Virgin Islander Peter Adam Crook competed in the Men’s Ski Halfpipe event in Sochi, Russia.
About 50 supporters gathered at Captain Mulligan’s at Nanny Cay to watch Mr. Crook compete in the qualifying rounds of his event.
The first time his name appeared on the television, attendees cheered, and they continued to do so any time a VI flag flashed on the screen.
Among the supporters were Mr. Crook’s grandparents, Jim and Susie Johnson, who sat in the front row of chairs that the restaurant set out for the event.
In his first run, Mr. Crook had almost completed the course, leaping in the air and doing tricks as he skied down the halfpipe, when he stumbled.
“On my first run I was feeling good. The speed had gotten a little faster than in practice, but going into my last hit I got a little off of my line through the pipe and hit some bumps that took me down,” Mr. Crook said.
As the second round got under way, competitors started to wipe out one after another, most likely from the poor weather conditions. Occasionally, a VI supporter would cheer as a competitor crashed, in hopes that it would help Mr. Crook’s chances to advance to the next round.
He would need at least 72 points to break into the top 12 and advance to the finals, but he came up short after falling down again during his second run. His final and best score was 25.20 points, and he finished in 27th place out of 29 competitors.
“I was struggling for speed again and going into my last hit I hardly got out of the pipe,” Mr. Crook said. “We are all used to doing our runs much bigger than we could go that night. It’s harder to do tricks without a decent amount of amplitude. With all of that said, everyone had to deal with the same conditions and I just wasn’t able to land the runs that I would have liked to. I had a great time and am very proud to be representing the BVI.”
Mr. Crook is unsure what he plans to do next, but a trip to Tortola for a couple of weeks is most likely, he said.
See the Feb. 20, 2014 edition for full coverage.
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