The Virgin Islands Olympic Committee selected a team of seven athletes, five men and two women, to compete in four different sports at the Games.

Three of the athletes had also competed four years earlier, including triple jumper Muhammad Halim and sprinter LaVerne Jones-Ferrette, who headed to her fourth straight Games as the oldest and most experienced member (aged 35) of the team.

Laser sailor and Pan American Games finalist Cy Thompson led his delegation as the flag bearer for the Virgin Islands in the opening ceremony.

The nation's previous medal feat happened at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where sailor Peter Holmberg bagged the silver in the Finn class.

Clayton Laurent claimed his Olympic spot with a box-off victory at the 2016 American Qualification Tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.