At the age of 27, Erison Hurtault was the sole male athlete representing Dominica at the Olympics. He previously participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Hurtault qualified for the games because his fastest time of 45.59 seconds between 1 May 2011 and 8 July 2012, set at the 2011 Ninove Memorial Geert Rasschaert, was the exact "B" qualifying time standard required for his event, the men's 400 metres. Before the Olympics, Joel Hamilton felt the runner would progress beyond the first round and Hurtault's personal trainer was confident he was in good fitness. He was drawn in the seventh heat on 4 August, finishing fifth out of seven athletes, with a time of 46.05 seconds. Hurtault placed 31st overall out of 47 runners, and did not advance to the semi-finals after finishing 0.59 seconds slower than the slowest athlete in his heat who made the later stages. Afterwards Hurtault felt he could have finished higher but thanked the Dominican people for supporting him.