Against all odds, a six-athlete delegation from the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia delivered a standout performance at the 2026 ANOCES Athletics Championships, securing six total medals including three golds to cap an unforgettable weekend of competition in Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis. Held 4–5 July at the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium, the regional meet brought together top track and field talent from across the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees of the Eastern Caribbean. Out of nine competing nations, Saint Lucia – with one of the smallest rosters in the entire field – claimed seventh place overall in the team standings, an achievement made all the more impressive by its dominant individual results.
Leading the charge for Saint Lucia was 17-year-old sprint phenom Jady Emmanuel, a native of Laborie who already carried a reputation as one of the Caribbean’s rising young stars following her double gold win at the 2025 CARIFTA Games. Emmanuel did not disappoint, shattering both the venue record and her own personal best to take gold in the women’s 100m final with a blistering time of 11.39 seconds. Held directly to a final on Sunday, the race saw Emmanuel outpace second-place finisher Geolyna Dowdye of Antigua & Barbuda (11.47) and bronze medalist Soniya Jones (11.64) to claim the top spot. With a legal +0.7 m/s tailwind backing her run, Emmanuel’s time ranks as the 10th fastest ever posted by an Under-18 female sprinter globally this year. The result also punched her ticket to next month’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, marking a major career milestone for the teen talent. Prior to this meet, Emmanuel held Saint Lucia’s existing national Under-18 100m record with a 11.50-second run posted in 2025.
Emmanuel was far from the only Saint Lucia athlete to stand atop the podium at the championships. Joy Edward, a thrower competing for the University of Charleston, claimed the women’s shot put gold in dominant fashion. On her very first attempt, Edward launched the shot 14.56m – a mark that would ultimately hold up for gold. Though the result fell short of her own national record of 15.63m, Edward was the only competitor in the field to record a throw over 14 meters, hitting the 14-meter benchmark on four of her six total attempts.
Rounding out Saint Lucia’s three gold medals was 400m runner Hannah Charles, who trains in Jamaica. Running from Lane 5, Charles crossed the finish line in 54.86 seconds, finishing well clear of silver medalist De’Cheynelle Thomas, a former CARIFTA champion representing host nation St Kitts & Nevis, to take the top spot.
The island’s medal haul began on the opening day of competition, when Naya Jules claimed Saint Lucia’s first medal of the meet with a bronze-winning throw of 41.98m in the women’s javelin. Two silvers were added to the team’s total on the final day of competition. Khailan Vitalis, who is set to represent Saint Lucia at both the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Central American and Caribbean Games, took silver in the men’s sprint hurdles, finishing in 14.43 seconds behind winner Tejaun Webbe of host St Kitts & Nevis, following a late non-start from Grenada’s Kyle Nedd that left the field undersubscribed. In the men’s 100m, Stephan Stephen earned silver after entering the final as the top qualifier. Stephen clocked 10.37 seconds in the preliminary round to lead the field, before running 10.41 seconds from Lane 4 in the final to finish second behind Jaleel Croal of the British Virgin Islands, who took gold in 10.19 seconds.
In the final team rankings, host St Kitts & Nevis claimed first place with 180 total points, followed by Antigua & Barbuda in second with 171 points. St Vincent & the Grenadines took third with 134 points, just edging out the British Virgin Islands (130 points) for the podium spot. Despite sending just six competitors, Saint Lucia amassed 70 total points to secure seventh place in the final standings, turning a small roster into one of the meet’s most talked-about successful campaigns.