At the 2026 CARIFTA Games hosted at Grenada’s own Kirani James Athletics Stadium from April 4 to 6, 13-year-old Kaelynna Modeste etched her name into the country’s regional athletics history books, clinching a bronze medal in the Under-17 Women’s Triple Jump and securing her place as one of the youngest Caribbean Free Trade Association Games medalists Grenada has ever produced.
Competing against a field of older, more seasoned rivals from across the Caribbean region, Modeste delivered a career-defining performance, recording a new personal best jump of 11.32 meters. This mark marked a remarkable nearly one-meter improvement on her previous best performance at the domestic InterCol Games just weeks prior, enough to earn her a spot on the podium. The gold medal went to The Bahamas’ Jazae Johnson, who topped the event with a jump of 12.35 meters, while Jamaica’s Stefvanco Henry claimed silver with a 11.51-meter effort.
Modeste, a student-athlete at St. Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School (SAASS), has already built an impressive resume on the domestic circuit. She was a key contributor to SAASS’s historic double championship victory at the recent InterCol Games, where the school claimed both boys’ and girls’ team titles. Ahead of her CARIFTA selection, she turned in consistent results throughout the 2025-2026 domestic season: she won the national Under-17 Long Jump title with a 5.22-meter jump, took home gold in the InterCol Sub-Junior Long Jump with a 5.38-meter mark, and earned a silver medal in the Open Triple Jump behind defending champion Christanna Charles with a 10.36-meter effort.
This bronze medal makes Modeste only the third Grenadian athlete to claim a podium finish in the Under-17 Triple Jump at the CARIFTA Games, following in the footsteps of Charles and fellow Grenadian medalist Nichonier George. Her result pushes Grenada’s all-time medal tally in the regional event to one gold and three bronze medals, underscoring the small island nation’s growing strength in track and field’s discipline events.
Sports analysts and local athletics officials note that Modeste’s breakout performance at just 13 years old not only adds to Grenada’s growing athletics legacy but also signals a bright future for the young prodigy, as she continues to develop her skill on the regional and international stage.