Bermuda competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.
Background
On 22 June 1948, the Bermuda Olympic team was announced, which included: Hazzard Dill, Perry Johnson, Stanley Lines, Frank Mahoney, Phyllis Edness and Phyllis Lightbourn in athletics; Walter Bardgett, Robert Cook, Derek Oatway, Donald Shanks and Philip Tribley in swimming; and Frank Gosling in diving. Edness and Lightbourn were the only two female athletes, and they were the first two female athletes to compete for Bermuda at the Olympics. Since Lightbourn was racing first, she became the first female to represent Bermuda at the Olympics, while Edness became the first black woman to do so. The delegation also included D. J. Williams (track and field coach), James F. Murray (secretary), Mrs. W. F. Hayward (chaperone), W. F. Hayward (chef de mission), Bill Brooks (swimming coach) and Loraine Bruenig (Pan American Airways hostess). They boarded their flight for New York City on 13 July, before taking another flight to London.
W. F. Hayward was the flag bearer for the Bermudian team at the opening ceremony, where the Bermudian team was the seventh to enter the stadium. Each member of the team wore white doeskins and white helmets. Bardgett suffered from stomach pains during the ceremony which were attributed to the hot climate in the stadium at the time.
Upon returning to Bermuda on 29 August, the team was welcomed by 100 Bermudians.
Athletics
Men
Track & road
Hazzard Dill, Perry Johnson, Stanley Lines and Frank Mahoney competed across four track events.
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Quarterfinal | Semi-final | Final | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | |||
| Hazzard Dill | 200 m | — | 5 | did not advance | ||||||
| 400 m | 53.0 | 3 | did not advance | |||||||
| Perry Johnson | 100 m | DQ | 6 | did not advance | ||||||
| 200 m | — | 4 | did not advance | |||||||
| Stanley Lines | 100 m | 11.69 | 6 | did not advance | ||||||
| 200 m | — | 4 | did not advance | |||||||
| Frank Mahoney | 100 m | 11.8 | 3 | did not advance | ||||||
| Hazzard Dill Perry Johnson Stanley Lines Frank Mahoney | 4 × 100 m relay | 45.4 | 5 | did not advance | ||||||
Women
Track & road
At the Bermuda Olympic Track and Field Trials, Phyllis Lightbourn and Phyllis Edness ran a time of 12.7 seconds in the 100 metres, which was faster than the Bermuda Olympic qualifying time of 13.3. The Royal Gazette wrote that there were "tremendous possibilities in the Olympics" with these performances. Phyllis Edness and Phyllis Lightbourn both competed in the women's 100 and 200 metres. After arriving in London, it was reported that Lightbourn and Edness were struggling to adapt to the warmer temperatures in London at the time.
Edness did not advance past the heats in either event. In the 200 metres she finished last and did not qualify. In the 100 metres, she was leading her heat 85 metres into the race, but she suffered from stomach cramps which slowed her down and caused her to drop from first to third, thereby not qualifying for the finals.
Lightbourn advanced to the semi-finals in both the 100 and 200 metres. In her 200 metres heat, she was in third position near the finish, but the second-place runner (Czechoslovakia's Olga Šicnerová) fell, which allowed Lightbourn to take second position and qualify for the semi-finals. Lightbourn also fainted at the finish line. She was treated by paramedics. She finished last in the semi-finals of both her events and thus did not qualify for any finals.
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semi-final | Final | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | |||
| Phyllis Edness | 100 m | 13.6 | 3 | did not advance | ||||
| 200 m | — | 5 | did not advance | |||||
| Phyllis Lightbourn | 100 m | 13.0 | 2 | 13.65 | 6 | did not advance | ||
| 200 m | 27.0 | 2 | — | 7 | did not advance | |||
Field
Phyllis Lightbourn was the only woman to compete in a field event. She competed in the long jump, where she jumped a distance of 5.23 metres to finish in fifteenth position overall.
Diving
Bermuda's only competitor in diving was Frank Gosling, who scored 113.98 points to place tenth in the men's 3 metre springboard event.
Swimming
Walter Bardgett, Robert Cook, Derek Oatway, Donald Shanks and Philip Tribley competed across five swimming events.
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semi-final | Final | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | |||
| Walter Bardgett | 400 m freestyle | 5:37.2 | 7 | did not advance | ||||
| Robert Cook | 5:37.9 | 6 | did not advance | |||||
| Derek Oatway | 100 m freestyle | 1:08.6 | 6 | did not advance | ||||
| 400 m freestyle | 5:20.9 | 6 | did not advance | |||||
| 1500 m freestyle | 21:55.1 | 7 | did not advance | |||||
| Donald Shanks | 100 m backstroke | 1:17.1 | 3 | did not advance | ||||
| Philip Tribley | 1500 m freestyle | 22:56.6 | 7 | did not advance | ||||
| Walter Bardgett Derek Oatway Robert Cook Philip Tribley | 4 × 200 m freestyle | DQ | 7 | did not advance | ||||
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