标签： Saint Lucia

The 2026 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships wrapped up its four-day run on April 7 at Martinique’s Pierre Samot Community Aquatic Centre, and the Saint Lucia national swim squad has emerged with a historic milestone to celebrate. The island nation’s swimmers secured an unprecedented total of 14 medals across individual events, marking a one-medal increase from their 2025 performance and setting a new national record for the regional competition.

Leading the charge for Saint Lucia was 11-12 age division standout Sapphire Parks, who turned in a dominant performance that cemented her status as one of the region’s most promising young swimmers. Defending her division title from the previous year, Parks expanded her personal medal haul from eight in 2025 to 10 this year, closing out the competition with an overall tally of five gold, four silver, and one bronze to earn 88 total individual points. Her standout results included a gold medal win in the 100m breaststroke, where she clocked a finishing time of 1:21.23, and a silver medal in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:38.13.

Reflecting on her performance after Monday’s preliminary and final events, Parks opened up about the mix of progress and resilience that defined her competition. “In the first three events that I did, I didn’t really hit personal bests as much as I wanted,” she explained. “But in the last event, the 200m individual medley that I’m really proud of right now, I dropped a lot of time, and that made me really happy. It made up for the rest.” On the final day of competition, Parks added a fifth-place finish in the 400m freestyle final to her overall results.

Beyond Parks’ historic individual performance, several other Saint Lucia swimmers turned in impressive results to push the team to its record medal count. Tyler Dantes claimed one gold medal for the squad, while Antoine Destang earned two silver medals, and Maya Andrew took home a bronze medal. Dantes also posted eighth place in the 11-12 boys’ 50m freestyle and sixth in the 200m backstroke, cutting an impressive 10 seconds off his previous personal best time in the process. Destang, competing in the 15-17 boys’ division, notched a fourth-place finish in the 50m freestyle and eighth in the 200m freestyle. Young swimmer Fayth Jefferey came just short of qualifying for the 100m breaststroke finals in a tightly contested preliminary round.

When the final scores were tallied, Saint Lucia secured 12th place in the overall team rankings with 156 total points, a solid finish that reflected the team’s consistent performance across four days of competition. The Bahamas claimed the overall team title with a dominant 795 total points to top the regional rankings. Comparing the 2026 result to last year’s, Saint Lucia’s 2025 medal count stood at 13 medals: four gold, four silver, and five bronze, making this year’s 14-medal haul a new benchmark for the country’s aquatics program.

The Caribbean’s premier junior athletics showcase, the CARIFTA Games, wrapped up its 2025 edition on the evening of April 6 at Grenada’s Kirani James Stadium, with Saint Lucia matching its 2024 medal haul to finish 10th on the overall regional medals table. For the second straight year, the island nation left the competition with four podium finishes, all earned by its standout field event competitors.

Saint Lucia’s medal count got off to a blazing start on the competition’s opening days, when 16-year-old Destinee Cenac claimed gold in the Under-17 girls’ high jump. Clearing a new personal best height of 1.72 meters, the St Joseph’s Convent student and Morne Stars Athletics Club member improved on her bronze medal finish from the 2024 Games, kicking off a dominant run for Saint Lucia’s field athletes. Cenac’s win marked the 16th high jump medal the island has earned in CARIFTA Games history, making it the nation’s most successful individual discipline – a legacy built by previous CARIFTA record holders and Olympic athletes Levern Spencer and Jeannelle Scheper.

Naya Jules added a silver medal to Saint Lucia’s tally in the Under-20 girls’ pole vault, recording a clearance of 2.95 meters. This marked Jules’ fourth consecutive CARIFTA medal in the event, and her second straight silver after taking home gold in the Open girls’ division in both 2023 and 2024. Beyond pole vault, Jules also delivered a strong personal best performance of 41.59 meters in the Under-20 girls’ javelin throw, finishing just outside the podium in fifth place.

Opening night of the Games saw Denzel Phillips claim his third career CARIFTA medal, taking bronze in the Under-20 boys’ discus throw with a best throw of 53.24 meters. The Saint Lucia athlete finished behind Jamaican pair Kamari Kennedy and Joseph Salmon on the podium, and narrowly missed a second medal after spending most of the competition in top-three position for the shot put, ultimately dropping to fifth in the final standings.

The final medal of the competition for Saint Lucia came on Easter Monday, the event’s closing day, from Under-17 long jumper Randall Monroe. Making his CARIFTA Games debut just hours after finishing a narrow fourth in the Under-17 boys’ high jump, Monroe fought through challenging stiff headwind conditions to record a jump of 6.60 meters, good enough for bronze. The young athlete will remain eligible to compete in the Under-17 division when the next CARIFTA Games are held.

The 12-member Saint Lucian delegation included a number of young athletes who are expected to build on their 2025 experience in future editions of the meet. Fifteen-year-old thrower Eavan Edgar placed 11th in the Under-17 shot put and fouled out of the discus competition, but will be eligible to return next year. Similarly, long jumpers Barbara-Marie Maximin and Syesha Rogers placed ninth in the Under-17 and Under-20 divisions respectively, with Maximin moving up to the Under-20 bracket in 2026.

For the nation’s Under-20 male athletes, the 2025 Games marked their final appearance in the junior regional competition, as all will age out of the division ahead of 2026. Middle-distance runner Evann John delivered an impressive improved performance from his 2024 showing, qualifying for the 800m final and clocking 1:53.44 to finish fifth. Sprinter Joaqwan Alexander ran a faster time than he did in 2024 in the 400m event, but once again just missed out on a spot in the final round. Benique Mann placed 13th in the 1500m, Ryan Simeon finished 24th in the 100m, and triple jumper Darvin Forde placed 11th in his first and final CARIFTA Games appearance.

A sold-out crowd packed Lucky Eddi’s venue in English Harbour, Antigua & Barbuda, on Saturday, April 4, to witness a thrilling display of boxing skill that ended with Saint Lucia’s Danaii Cooman claiming a standout win over local competitor Jeremiah Toussaint at Fight Night 2.

Hailing from Vieux Fort and competing in the 60kg Lightweight Elite division under the guidance of Saint Lucia’s senior national head coach Conrad Fredericks, Cooman turned in a performance that highlighted far more than just individual talent. Across every round, the young boxer showcased sharp technical precision, unwavering disciplinary focus, and remarkable resilience when faced with pressure from his Antiguan opponent. His consistent dominance in the ring has also drawn new attention to the growing strength of boxing development across southern Saint Lucia, marking the region as an emerging hub for elite athletic talent in the sport.

Beyond the immediate glory of a win in front of a packed international crowd, this victory holds major strategic significance for Cooman’s long-term career goals. It serves as a critical milestone in his multi-year preparation cycle for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where he intends to earn a spot representing his home nation of Saint Lucia. The 2026 Games are scheduled to run from late July through early August in Glasgow, Scotland, giving Cooman just over two years to refine his craft and secure his place on the national squad.

Cooman will not pause his training momentum after this latest win. Just under two weeks from his Antigua & Barbuda victory, he is set to join a five-member Saint Lucian squad traveling to Martinique for the second annual Caribbean Golden Glove competition, which will run from April 17 to 19. The upcoming regional tournament will offer another high-stakes opportunity for Cooman to test his skills against top Caribbean talent and continue building momentum toward his 2026 Commonwealth Games goal.

On the truncated opening session of the final day of the 2026 CARIFTA Athletic Championships held in Grenada, a series of standout and mixed results unfolded for Caribbean athletes across field and track events. Saint Lucia’s rising young talent Randall Monroe made his first appearance at the regional championship a memorable one, securing a bronze medal in the Under-17 Boys’ Long Jump competition. Competing against some of the region’s top young jumpers, Monroe delivered a career-defining performance on his fifth attempt, leaping to a new personal best of 6.60 meters. The mark temporarily pushed him into the silver medal position before final adjustments to the standings dropped him one spot to third, giving him the bronze. This result marks Monroe’s second top-four finish of the championships, after he claimed fourth place in the Under-17 Men’s High Jump just the previous night. With Monroe’s bronze added to the tally, Saint Lucia’s total medal count now stands at four: one gold, one silver, and two bronze, cementing the country’s solid performance at this year’s regional meet. Across competing nations, Team Barbados looked to add to their already impressive nine-medal haul from earlier rounds of the championships, but the team left the abbreviated final-day opening session without adding any new medals to their total. Despite the lack of new medals, the day still brought multiple qualifying successes for Barbadian track athletes. In the Under-17 Girls’ 100m Hurdles semi-finals, Tiara McClean crossed the finish line in fifth place in her heat, clocking a time of 15.23 seconds. While the placing was outside the top four, her overall qualifying time was fast enough to advance her to the final of the event scheduled for Monday night. Barbadian hurdlers also saw success at the Under-20 level, with both Alika Harewood and Afia Greenidge securing their spots in the Under-20 Girls’ 100m Hurdles final. On the men’s side of the Under-20 hurdles, Tevon Cadougan earned the last available spot in the 110m Hurdles final with a time of 14.25 seconds, the slowest qualifying mark to advance. His compatriot Rashad Gibson missed out on a spot in the final by the narrowest of margins, finishing just four hundredths of a second behind Cadougan with a time of 14.29 seconds. In field event action for Barbados, Shamyra Scantlebury competed in the Under-17 Girls’ Javelin throw, posting a best throw of 27.95 meters across her attempts to finish ninth in the event. As the championships head into the final session Monday night, athletes who advanced to the finals will compete for regional gold, silver and bronze medals to cap off the annual gathering of the Caribbean’s top young track and field talent.

Young swimming prodigy Sapphire Parks has turned in another dominant performance at the 39th edition of the CARIFTA Aquatics Championships, held at Martinique’s Pierre Samot Community Aquatic Centre in Le Lamentin, adding three more podium finishes to her tally on Sunday, April 5. The St Joseph’s Convent student-athlete, competing in the 11–12 girls’ division, now holds a total of six medals through two days of competition, three of which are gold medals.

Parks delivered an impressive schedule on the second Sunday of the tournament, qualifying for four event finals on the day. She claimed the top spot on the podium in the 400m individual medley, clocking a finishing time of 5:34.39 to secure her third gold of the competition. She went on to add two silver medals to her haul: one in the 50m butterfly with a time of 30.49 seconds, and a second in the 100m backstroke after touching the wall in 1:11.97. Her only non-podium finish of the day came in the 200m freestyle final, where she missed out on a bronze medal by just a fraction of a second to land in fourth place.

Parks’ standout performance leads a strong showing from the 12-member Saint Lucia delegation at the regional aquatics meet. Four other Saint Lucian swimmers advanced to event finals on Sunday night. Tyler Dantes, who already claimed the 11–12 boys’ 50m backstroke title earlier in the championships, placed fifth in the 100m backstroke and seventh in the 50m butterfly. In the older 15–17 boys’ division, Antoine Destang — who already holds a silver medal from the 100m butterfly — earned a fifth-place finish in the 100m backstroke and sixth place in the 50m butterfly.

After two full days of competition across all age divisions, Saint Lucia’s national team currently sits in 11th place in the overall team rankings, with several more days of racing still remaining on the championships schedule.

The 39th edition of the CARIFTA Aquatics Championships kicked off on Saturday, April 4, at the state-of-the-art Pierre Samot Community Aquatic Centre located in Le Lamentin, Martinique, and Saint Lucia’s 12-person national swim squad wasted no time announcing their threat to regional contenders. By the end of the opening day of competition, the small Caribbean island nation had captured five total medals, three of which were gold, catapulting them to eighth place in the overall standings with 45 total accumulated points.

Leading the historic opening day charge was 11-12 age group star Sapphire Parks, who is already on track to defend her title as the category’s top overall athlete. Parks first made waves at the 2025 championships in her debut performance in Trinidad and Tobago, and she picked up seamlessly where she left off 12 months prior, earning two golds and one bronze across Saturday’s finals. Competing out of the favored Lane 4, Parks posted a blistering time of 1 minute 8.04 seconds to claim top honors in the 100-meter butterfly. She followed that win with a 32.37-second bronze-medal finish in the 50-meter backstroke, before closing out her opening competition schedule with a dominant 2:57.22 victory in the 200-meter breaststroke.

Another standout performance for Saint Lucia came from first-time CARIFTA competitor Tyler Dantes, who claimed the 11-12 boys’ 50-meter backstroke gold medal with a winning time of 31.61 seconds. Veteran swimmer Antoine Destang, competing in his fourth and final CARIFTA Aquatics Championships, opened his farewell campaign with a solid silver medal in the 15-17 boys’ 100-meter butterfly, touching the wall in 56.36 seconds. Rounding out the day’s results for Saint Lucia, 11-12 age group swimmer Dylan Corcoran notched a fifth-place finish in the boys’ 200-meter breaststroke final, adding valuable points to the national team’s overall opening day total.

The 2024 CARIFTA Games officially got underway on Saturday morning at Grenada’s iconic Kirani James Athletic Stadium, with the first gold medal of the championship going to an athlete from the small Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia.

Destinee Cenac claimed the opening top prize of the meet with a standout performance in the women’s high jump, clearing a best height of 1.72 meters to outperform the rest of the field. Jamaica’s Stefvanco Henry and Barbados’ Shania Mottley both recorded a matching best clearance of 1.69 meters, with Henry taking silver and Mottley securing bronze to round out the podium for the opening event.

Action on the running track brought a series of mixed outcomes for Caribbean nations competing across age-group divisions. In the Under 17 Girls’ 400m semifinals, Barbados’ Jahzara Inniss crossed the line in fourth place with a time of 57.79 seconds in the opening heat, a result that saw her eliminated from final contention. Her compatriot Savannah Thorne matched Inniss’ fourth-place finish in the second semifinal, but her 57.20-second run was fast enough to secure a spot in the final scheduled for later that day.

For the Under 17 Boys’ 400m division, Barbados’ Taje Coward notched a fourth-place finish in the first semifinal with a time of 49.58 seconds, a result that earned him a place in the upcoming final. Unfortunately for teammate Jalino Hamlett, a false start at the beginning of his heat led to an immediate disqualification, ending his run at the championship early.

In the Under 20 Girls’ 400m semifinals, Barbadian athlete Krystal Bentham ultimately did not start the event, while Kadia Rock delivered a confident run to take second place in her semifinal, clocking 54.85 seconds to secure her place in the final.

Barbados’ Shamari Greenige-Lewis turned in a strong performance in the Under 20 Boys’ 400m semifinals, finishing second in his heat with a time of 46.49 seconds to earn the fourth-fastest qualifying time overall for the final. Teammate Aidan Moore took third in the second semifinal with a 47.27-second run, but the time was not sufficient to advance. Saint Lucia’s Joaqwan Alexander also missed out on a final spot, placing fifth in his opening semifinal with a time of 47.94 seconds.

Additional field event action brought more results across age groups: Barbados’ Jahzaria Ward placed 12th in the Under 17 Girls’ Shot Put with a best throw of 10.84 meters, while compatriot Ajalah Cumberbatch finished eighth in the Under 17 Boys’ Javelin with a top throw of 45.11 meters. Saint Lucia’s Naya Jules turned in a solid fifth-place performance in the Under 20 Girls’ Javelin, recording a best throw of 41.59 meters.

Sprint semifinals also brought mixed luck for Barbadian athletes. In the Under 17 Boys’ 100m, Josiah Gill secured his final spot with a 10.68-second run, while Asher Branford’s 11.14-second finish was not enough to advance. Neither of Barbados’ Under 17 Girls’ 100m athletes earned a final spot: Gia Greenidge clocked 12.24 seconds and Taylor-Rai Wiggins finished in 12.33 seconds, both eliminated in the semifinal round.

In the Under 20 Girls’ 100m semifinals, Barbados earned two spots in the final: Aniya Nurse qualified as the second-fastest overall runner with a time of 11.42 seconds, while teammate Semara Olton secured the eighth and final qualifying spot with an 11.86-second run. For the Under 20 Boys’ 100m, Barbados’ Dahrion Belgrave and Shamri Addison both missed out on advancement, clocking 10.56 seconds and 10.57 seconds respectively.

One of the most anticipated sprint showdowns in recent track and field history is officially locked in, as two of the world’s fastest women will finally share the 200m starting line this summer. Olympic 100m gold medalist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the United States will face off for the first time since the 2025 Tokyo event at Rome’s Golden Gala Diamond League on June 4, 2026.

The Wanda Diamond League confirmed the star-studded field for the fifth stop of its 2026 circuit in an official announcement dated April 2, revealing that the meet will kick off at Rome’s iconic Olympic Stadium, just one week ahead of Alfred’s 25th birthday.

Alfred, 24, has cemented her status as one of the most dominant sprinters of her generation, even overcoming significant physical adversity to claim top honors at the highest levels of competition. Despite competing through a nagging hamstring injury at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, she still walked away with a bronze medal in the 100m. At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Alfred delivered a career-defining performance, taking home 100m gold and 200m silver; she currently holds the 10th-fastest 200m time in women’s track and field history. As the reigning Diamond League 100m champion, she has defended her title in both 2024 and 2025, with her only recent 100m loss coming to Jefferson-Wooden at the Prefontaine Classic. She also took top spot in the 200m at the London Diamond League meet last July.

For her part, Jefferson-Wooden enters the clash as one of the most decorated sprinters in the sport right now. The 25-year-old American swept both the 100m and 200m titles at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, and her personal best in the 200m ranks as the eighth-fastest ever recorded by a female sprinter. Notably, this will mark the first time the two elite competitors have gone head-to-head in the 200m distance.

British sprinter Amy Hunt, a World Championships silver medalist, has also been confirmed as part of the competitive 200m field in Rome. Interestingly, Hunt was among a group of high-profile athletes that included Jefferson-Wooden who vacationed in Alfred’s home country of Saint Lucia in late 2025, adding an off-track layer of connection between the competitors.

For fans eager for more matchups between the two sprint stars, the Rome clash won’t be their only 2026 showdown. The pair is already scheduled to face off again in the women’s 100m at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Silesia this coming August 23, giving track and field fans two chances to watch the sport’s top two sprinters battle for bragging rights this summer.