Athens: Dion Crabbe using the ground for balance during Monday's workout

 Dion Crabbe debuts at the Olympic Games on Tuesday

The British Virgin Islands’ top sprinter and double national record holder Dion Crabbe, will make his Olympic Games debut at 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday.

Crabbe who has been training in Zurich, Switzerland just prior to the games, arrived in Athens, Greece on August 12, on a delayed flight, causing him to miss the delegation’s welcoming ceremony at the Olympic Games Village.

Crabbe who carried the territory’s flag in Friday’s opening ceremonies, has spent the week training and acclimatizing in Athens. He will become the 22nd athlete to represent the BVI at the Olympics Games as the territory has fielded athletes in both athletics and sailing. The BVI has been participating in the Olympic Games since 1984. Crabbe will take the Olympic Stadium Mondo turf field for the preliminary rounds of the 200 meters, which begins at 10:20 a.m. The quarter final rounds are later in the evening.

A technical meeting was held on Tuesday which coach Dag Samuels attended. There are 70 persons entered in the 200 meters. The seeding for the 200 meters will be done over the weekend. Crabbe, the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games 100 meter champion, is competing in the third of four major games he is eligible to participate in, only missing last year’s Pan American Games because of injuries. He competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, where he advanced to the quarter finals of the 200 meters before pulling out after nursing a sore hamstring. Crabbe has personal best credentials in the sprints of 10.25 seconds over the 100 meters and 20.30 seconds for 200. So far this season, he has times of 10.38 and 20.93 respectively, in limited competition.

Follow the BVI delegation activities at the Athens Olympic Games on the BVI Olympic Committee’s website www.bviolympics.com