Tabarie Henry, a world class athlete from the Virgin Islands and an Olympics veteran, will begin his gold-medal chase Saturday morning when the competitors line up for the first heats of the 400 meter dash.
The qualifying heats for the men’s 400 begin at 5:35 a.m. ET.
In 2008 in Beijing, Henry placed 17th in the men’s 400 meters. His best time so far this year is 45.2 seconds, according to the V.I. Olympics Committee’s website, a, half a second slower than his personal best of 44.77 seconds.
Henry is one of seven athletes in London representing the U.S. Virgin Islands.
V.I. sprinter LaVerne Jones-Ferrette will run Saturday in the 100 meter semifinals scheduled for 2:35 p.m. EDT.
Jones-Ferrette finished second in her preliminary heat of the women’s 100 meter dash, qualifying for Saturday’s semis with a time of 11.07. She was nipped by Murielle Ahoure of Cte d’Ivoire, who ran a 10.99.
Teammate Allison Peters fell short, finishing seventh Friday in her heat with a time of 11.41 second. The top three in each heat qualifies to move on.
Both Jones-Ferrette and Peters will run again Tuesday in the women’s 200 meters preliminaries.
Earlier in the London Games, Branden Whitehurst finished seventh in his heat of the 100 meters freestyle competition on July 28.
Muhammad Halim will contend in the men’s triple jump, the preliminaries of which will be held Tuesday.
Cy Thompson and Mimi Roller are competing in their respective Laser Class sailing events, which are ongoing.
The U.S. Virgin Islands has taken part in 19 Olympiads, starting with the 1968 Games in Mexico City. To date the territory’s only medal is the silver Peter Holmberg won in the men’s finn class sailing event in the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea.
