By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda’s only living National Hero and iconic former West Indies batsman, Sir Vivian Richards, is “over the moon with joy” following the successes of sprinter Julien Alfred and triple jump athlete Thea LaFond, after they both won historic medals for St Lucia and Dominica, respectively, at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Speaking recently on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, Sir Viv said the entire Caribbean should celebrate with St Lucia and Dominica who have a combined population of roughly 250,000.
“We all should be proud and I feel like I am them [athletes] on the podium too because you can feel it [the pride] when they hold their heart. This is just special times and you have to big them up because it’s huge and especially coming from small territories as we do at times and being able to make an impact in the word and you have the world media saying beautiful things about you, there is no better feeling,” he said.
Alfred, 23, won gold in the women’s 100 meters final, beating Team USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning World Champion who was heavily favored to take the August 3 race. The feat delivered St Lucia’s first ever Olympic medal in a time of 10.72 seconds. However, Alfred was not done and returned to claim her country’s second medal, a silver in the 200 meters final in 22.08 seconds.
Roughly an hour before Alfred’s gold medal heroics, LaFond made history for Dominica when she won the gold with a 15.02 meter leap in the triple jump, earning the country its first ever Olympic medal.
Earlier this year, LaFond won the triple jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow.
