Thea Lafond created history on Sunday when she became the first Dominican to win a gold medal at a global athletics competition.
She needed just two attempts to win gold in the women triple jump at the World Indoor Athletics Championships now taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.
LaFond managed a best of 15.01 meters in her second effort and she was the sole competitor to go over the 15-meter mark. It was the best jump in the world this year.
Speaking after her win, she stated that she is proud to be from Dominica, which she described as “small, beautiful and powerful country in the Caribbean.”
“I am so grateful, I really hope that today was just an inspiration, today was just a day that brought joy to my people,” she said. “I want them to know how much I love them, how much I appreciate them.”
She said she was grateful to the many Dominicans who have reached out to her and wish her good luck.
“I just want to say how thankful I am, for one the opportunity to represent Dominica and two, just the joy that I am feeling right now,” the athlete stated. “I feel so lucky right now.”
Lafond said she got inspiration for her win from St Lucian sprinter, Julien Alfred, who also created history when she became the first athlete to win a world medal for her country at the same event. Alfred won gold in the 60-meter dash in 6.98 seconds on Saturday.
“I would be lying to you if I say I didn’t cry last night when I saw her gold,” she said. “One of the first thing I thought of when I got out there to the track after the introduction was like, I need a one, two punch for the Lesser Antilles islands. Julien was the one and I gotta be the two.”
She said the inspiration she received from Alfred was amazing.
“It filled me with such pride,” Lafond stated, adding that it was good to see small countries doing “amazing things.”
“I know St Lucia was going to be so proud and I wanted the same feeling for Dominica,” she went on to say. “So a huge thank you to Julien Alfred for the inspiration …”
At the competition, Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez won silver with a leap of 14.90 meters while Ana Peleteiro-Compaore of Spain won bronze with a mark of 14.75.
2019: Lafond set the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) outdoor record before sustaining a season-ending injury.
2020: She surpassed the Olympic standard by a centimetre and became the first woman from the OECS from the OECS to make the Tokyo 2020 standard.
2021: Lafond unleashed the jump of her life (14.52m) and in the =process smashed her outright national record and logged the best jump globally, for the year. Later at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, she set another new national record and personal best with a leap of 14.6 metres.
2023 World Athletics Championship: Lafond broke the Triple Jump national record with a distance of 14.90 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championship and reached a commendable fifth place finish in the triple jump finals.
The National Triple Jumper’s impressive athletic prowess at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary, where she managed to shatter the national record three times, cemented her position as Dominica’s first qualifying athlete for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
Thea Lafond’s journey has been truly inspiring, and she continues to make her country proud with her exceptional performances.
wow wow wow. congratulations Thea. great job . keep on keeping on.
some of you are suffering from a unknown political dease may your soul rest in peace soon from politics sorry for you are so sick.
congrats young lady you go hope she will be welcome home back with red carpet and flowers not blahnik blah
We have coaches who are capable of training our women and athletes to excel.Flying Flag is nothing you have exceptional ability – no bedding or marrying would be needed – the US would offer you visa and you refuse and continue with your Dominica passport and you made it today I would respect you.
We have all these passport holders – the billionaires we would be seeking sponsorship for our athletes from them to train them and to make some great athletes for Dominica.
Please note that this a politics free comment zone. No messy and negative political diatribe welcome here. Give it a rest already!!!
Yeah Boi!!!!! Congratulations Tina and team. You did it!!! All the hard work, dedication and sacrifice has paid off BIG TIME!!! The best is yet to come!!!
Congratulations! That’s a proud Dominican who knows how to do nothing.
You go girl… Dca to the bone!!!
Keep that flag flying my girl. If we were not so broke at home some of us would have been there to support. Congratulation in order from all of us back home.
congratulations
what a fantastic achievement
It’s sad to see that Domminica has so many young people with sporting potential, but a wicked Skerrit government is declaring island wide war on all playing fields, either by putting buildings on them, or using them as dump sites. The people need to rise up against this wickedness.
Good for Lafond, but
we need HOME GROWN athletes;
we need a synthetic track;
imagine a DO NOTHING government after 24 years in power, have denied the young people quality sporting facilities. I am so happy the youths are now seeing the light, and are beginning to undress this regime. 26 ministers DOING NOTHING!
DO NOTHING!
@INTELLIGENCE about FIRE and BLACKOUT
That’s the BEST COMMENT thus far. Dominica is the land of hypocrites. Is that how we intend to create world class athletes? By destroying and ignoring the facilities that they need, then the lucky ones who get all their training abroad we claim them and celebrate. Dont look for thumbs up just speak the truth.
You are 100% correct!
young funky monkey
Letting the blue negative aholes know Thea Lafond is flying the DOMINICA flag,a true patriot.She won gold in 2024 with,Skerrit as Prime Minister.
Kaveem Hodge(Dominican) West Indies cricket.
Alick Athanaze(Dominican) West Indies cricket
Stephan Pascal(Dominican) under 19 West Indies cricket captain.
If you consider yourself a true Dominican, you would not be making such a ridiculous claim. We are one flag 🇩🇲, one people and one nation. Accomplishments come from discipline, hard work and perseverance, it does not come from politics.
We should embrace and congratulate Ms Lafond as a proud nation 🇩🇲🇩🇲🇩🇲
Proud to be from the Nature Isle
One Love
This is incredible! Congratulations Ms. Lafond. You have made Dominica extremely proud.
Congrats and very well done Champ!!! You
have made your country and fans in general proud.
I am looking forward to you repeating this incredible feat in Paris.
From the very first time I saw you took off and landed, I had confidence your day would come, and this is that day!
I was always confident you would make it big time, and you have done it: Congratulations!
I don’t usually say congratulations to Dominicans especially on any achievement, but in your case I think you are special, and congratulating you is from the depths of my heart.
I look forward to seeing, and hearing the Dominica corrupted political thief and his lapdogs take credit for your performance, and accomplishments.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
OK to you “don’t usually say congratulations to Dominicans especially on any achievement..” as compared to you I say congratulations and wish them well but with our Human Rights and Women Rights issues and the DAY we a celebrating I can say a woman who is married to her coach in this day who potentially went to the USA as an athlete or even if her family sponsored her – looking at issues that the gymnastic coach had years after by violating the US athletes and the they did not come forward immediately – later we have athletes he in court and fighting so hard to get some form of recourse. Olympic teams USA. The vulnerable situation she was in and she never reported that this man in authority was violating her instead she end up being married to him. We have quite a few Dominican women athletes who end marrying coaches and you move on and retire/reside in the USA and elsewhere.
You know in my world you are suspect: I am very suspicious of you, your name and your commentaries!
Once someone wrote in responses to a comment I wrote implying that “ I know everything. Fact is I do not know most things beyond what I studied in my academic curricula, and what my intelligence dictates.
However, in your particular case you seem to be an authority on everything!
I don’t know where you got your information that this lady Coach abused her and other women, and she is married to him. Something seems wrong, and so, I suggest you disclose the name of her coach, and in which State in the United States her husband committed these crimes of I suppose sexual assault or abuse.
Now such offenses are usually public information, so you should feel free to disclose your source of information.
And by the way many athletes in America and the world over are married to their coaches, that’s not illegal.