Sportsworld

Dominica’s Thea LaFond had a golden 2024. She was one of a handful of athletes who won the World Indoors in March, and then followed it up with an Olympic title at the Games in Paris.That night, the entire population of her native Dominica could have fitted inside the Stade de France. Her gold at the Games was the island nation’s first of any colour in any Olympic sport, just as her World Indoor title was their first medal of any colour at those Championships. Having moved to the United States at the age of five, Thea describes how hard it was to adapt to a different kind of life. Dance, and later track and field, helped her with that transition. She remembers trying the Triple Jump for the first time, taking off and doing three ballet-style leaps with straight legs before the coach told her that wasn’t the way to do it!Thea has remained a child of both countries, and is rightly proud of everything she’s achieved wearing the vest of Dominica. She was their only representative at the Glasgow World Indoor