The Olympic Association was founded and recognized by the IOC in 1952. Athletes have participated in the Olympic Games since 1952 (Helsinki). The most popular sports are boxing, wrestling, track and field, sailing, diving, windsurfing, volleyball, and tennis.
The first Olympic award for the country was won by yachtsmen, taking 3rd place in the “Star” class in 1956 (Melbourne). In 1964 in Tokyo, the crew of the “Star” class yacht consisting of D. Knowles (participant in 8 Olympic Games in 1948–72, 1988; nicknamed the Sea Wolf) and S. Cook won the first gold medal at the Olympic Games.
In 2000 in Sydney, athletes won 2 gold medals (both women) in the 200 m race (1999 world champion in the 4×100 m relay and silver medalist in the same discipline at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – P. Davis-Thompson) and in the women’s 4×100 m track and field relay (P. Davis-Thompson, D. Ferguson, S. Fiennes, C. Sturrup) and 1 bronze medal; 4 years later in Athens – 1 gold (400 m runner T. Williams-Darling) and 1 bronze medal.
At the Olympics in Beijing (2008), Bahamian athletes were awarded 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. At the London Olympics (2012), the men’s quartet (R. Miller, D. Pinder, M. Mathieu, K. Brown) achieved historic success by winning the 4×400 m relay. Four years later, in Rio de Janeiro (2016), a sensational victory in the 400 m race was won by S. Miller (before this competition, her best results were 2nd place at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, 2014, and 4th place at the World Championships in Moscow, 2013) – with an unexpected “dive” at the finish line, she overtook the main favorite of the race, American E. Felix. In total, as of 1.1.2017, the athletes have 6 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze medals.
The largest sports arena in the capital of B. O. Nassau – Tomas Robinson Stadium (built in 1981, reconstructed in 2005 and 2014, about 15 thousand seats) hosted the first two World Championships in athletics relay running (2014, 2015) and is scheduled to host the third (2017); Bahamian runners won two silver medals in the 4×400 m relay (2014, 2015).
The stadium is named after the famous sprinter T. Robinson (1938–2012) – participant of 4 Olympics (1956–68), winner of the Commonwealth Games (1958). In addition to the Olympic champions, professional Bahamian boxers have achieved international fame: S. Williams (competes in the super heavyweight category; has had 56 fights, won 38 victories, 20 of them by knockout), who fought with E. Holyfield, R. Chagaev, T. Fields and others; C. Edner (competes in the weight category up to 60 kg; has had 44 fights, won 34 victories, 19 of them by knockout).
In 2011 and 2012, Nassau hosted the Women’s Open Tennis Championships (ITF series, prize fund of $100 thousand), in the singles of which A. Ekimova (Bulgaria) and A. Wozniak (Canada) won, respectively. In the doubles of both competitions, representatives played – N. Fountain, L. Russell. The athletes are participants in such traditional international forums as the Commonwealth Games (1954–70, 1978–82, since 1990) and the Pan American Games (since 1955); at the former, 24 gold, 24 silver and 32 bronze medals were won, while at the latter, 7, 13 and 11, respectively.