A short-lived nation (existing between 1958 and 1962), the West Indies Federation consisted of 12 present-day nations and territories: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
The West Indies Olympic Association was formed on 29 July 1958, at a meeting in London, as a successor of the already existing National Olympic Committees of Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. This newly constituted organization was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the same year and sent a team to the 1960 Olympics. The Roma organizing committee called the “nation” the Antilles, a term that, unfortunately, has been often copied in many books. The West Indies team consisted of 13 athletes in 1960 – two from Barbados, four from Trinidad, and seven from Jamaica, who competed in track & field athletics, cycling, sailing, shooting, and weightlifting.
In this single Olympic participation, the team won two bronze medals: one by Jamaican George Kerr in the 800 metres, and one by the 4×400 metres relay team, which consisted of three Jamaicans and one Barbadian (Jim Wedderburn).
After the dissolution of the Federation in 1962 the West Indies Olympic Association was made defunct as well and the Olympic Committees of Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago became active again.
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