Eduardo Garcia is headed to Paris, France to represent the Virgin Islands at the 2024 Olympic Games. Garcia is scheduled to participate in the Marathon for the V.I. on Aug. 10 at 8:00 a.m., the Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation announced.
Garcia boasts record-breaking achievements in the Virgin Islands for the 5K, 10K, 15K, Half Marathon, and Marathon categories. His most recent accomplishment was setting a new V.I. record in the Half Marathon in Istanbul, Turkey on April 28, according to the press release.
The cutoff date for qualifying for individual Track and Field events has been set for June 30, the press release stated.
Athletes can secure their spot in two ways:
- By meeting the entry standards for an event before the deadline
- By securing a World Athletics ranking score within the ranking period.
Presently, no athlete from the Virgin Islands has met the entry standard. However, the Virgin Islands has two athletes within the World Athletics rankings—Michelle Smith and Malique Smith, both competing in the 400m Hurdles. Michelle currently ranks among the top 40 global athletes, which is the maximum number of participants in the Olympics for that event, the release stated.
