Eight athletes across three sports and ten events represented Barbados, marking the smallest delegation in its history up to the Beijing Games.

The nation remained a British colony until it declared total independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.

[1] The first appearance of a uniquely Barbadian delegation at the Olympic Games came two years after it declared independence.

At its debut, nine male athletes arrived to participate at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Previously, Barbados (as a British colony) constituted a major part of the West Indies Federation along with Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, which sent a delegation to participate at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

[3] With the exceptions of the 1968 and the 2008 Barbadian teams, every appearance by Barbados at the Olympics (as of Beijing) included at least ten athletes; its smallest delegation arrived in 2008, carrying only eight competitors.

[3] In Beijing, eight athletes participated across three sports (swimming, track and field, and sailing) in ten distinct events.

Born in 1984, he is the son of former Olympian Hadley Hinds, and has been affiliated in training with the MVP Track and Field Club in Kingston, Jamaica.

of the 80 athletes participating in the event, Hinds tied Colombia's Daniel Grueso and the Netherlands Antilles' Churandy Martina for 27th place.

Of the 40 athletes who advanced to quarterfinals in the event, Hinds tied Russia's Andrey Epishin for 24th place.

Born in 1988 in the Barbadian capital city of Bridgetown, Brathwaite attended Barton County Community College in rural central Kansas, competing in the school's athletic programs.

[8] Brathwaite participated in the third heat of the quarterfinal round in the men's 110 meters hurdles, which took place on August 19.

[8] Jade Latoya Bailey participated at the Beijing Olympics in track and field events on Barbados' behalf.

During the qualification round of the event, which occurred on August 15, Bailey was placed in the ninth heat against eight other athletes.

Of the 85 athletes who competed in and finished this round of the event, Bailey tied Tahesia Harrigan of the British Virgin Islands for 25th place.

Douglas competed in the one person dinghy event, where he was assessed using a score derived from his participation in nine distinct races.

[13] In the first race, Douglas ranked 41st place out of 43; in the second, 43rd out of 43; in the third, 43rd out of 43; in the fourth, 34th out of 43; in the fifth, 33rd out of 43; in the sixth, 30th out of 43; in the seventh, 40th out of 43; in the eighth, 37th out of 43; and in the ninth, 41st out of 43.

Bradley Ally was the only Barbadian swimmer at the Beijing Olympics who competed in multiple events.

Born in Barbados in 1986, Ally was involved in the Pine Crest Swim Team in Fort Lauderdale, a city in southern Florida.

[15] During the course of the men's 200 meters IM, Ally was placed in the fourth heat of the August 13 preliminary round.

Completing the event in 1:58.57, Ally placed third ahead of British swimmer Liam Tancock (1:59.79) and behind Japan's Ken Takakuwa (1:58.51).

The heat's headers included American swimmer Ryan Lochte (1:57.69) and Brazil's Thiago Pereira (1:58.06).

[16] Bradley Ally also returned to compete in the men's 400 meters individual medley, an event in which he had participated while at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Born on Barbados, Cross was affiliated with TeamBath, the sports organization of England's University of Bath.

He finished the race in 1:04.57, ending up in seventh place; he defeated Uzbekistan's Ivan Demyanenko (1:05.14), but fell behind Argentina's Sergio Andres Ferreyra (1:03.65).

The heat was led by Puerto Rican swimmer Daniel Velez (1:01.80) and India's Sandeep Sejwal (1:02.19).

[21] Terrence Haynes represented Barbados in the men's 100 meters freestyle while at the Beijing Olympics.

[22] During the preliminary round of the men's 100 meters freestyle, which took place on August 12, Haynes competed in the third heat against six other athletes.