Roseau, Dominica: Thea Lafond scripted history by finishing Olympic medal drought for small island state- Dominica and won first-ever gold in the women’s triple jump at 2024 Paris Games.
After winning, she gave an interview to tell the world about her country and how it has been her support throughout her career.
She clinched first position by recording an astounding 15.02 metres, the best in the world and the national record this year. Thea Lafond shared an optimistic note on her small state and added that sometimes everyone wonders if being from a small country means that they have less accessibility to resources.
She continued that they are a small state, but they have been really big on just having quality over quantity and her country is just proud as it is a big deal to them. Lafond asserted,” I hope my country is just proud and so i hope It’s a big deal to them, it’s big deal to them, but they deserve to celebrate, they’ve been amazing support throughout this year.”
She further called her husband her biggest support and said, ”He came to me and said there is torrential downpour coming in 20 minutes, you have to do something big now, because weather is not going to be on your side, and I said okay as it was the best advice, it’s really helped securing me because jumping in that rain was not an easy feat.”
Talking about sports facility in Dominica, 30-year-old added that there is a stadium, there is no track in country and added that Dominica has an entire blueprint that’s been set for years, there’s actually a program that brings facilities to the country.
She added that the biggest issue has actually been getting the land allocation for this track, so she hoped that this medal could get this done in Dominica. “I want a place where the next generation doesn’t necessarily have to go overseas to even start, budding their greatness, I want it to be an interest where the kids can just go and hang on the track and race each other just for fun.”
Olympic Champion expressed delight and called it a “surreal moment” and said that it was just overflowing joy.”
Notably, she was only female representing anything in athletics for Dominica and become first-ever athlete to win medal in Olympics.
The victory has excited Dominica as the entire nation started dancing on the streets and celebrated her win on Saturday night. Social media is buzzing with congratulatory messages, including a emotional reaction from her brother, Navy’s DT Chreign, whose excitement went viral,
Prime Minister of Dominica– Dr Roosevelt Skerrit also congratulated her by personally calling to congratulated Thea Lafond. He said that they are looking forward to celebrating the day and moment with her in the country to which, Lafond said that she appreciates their support and will celebrate with them very soon.
What is Dominica?
Dominica- small island nation in the Caribbean region with the population of 70,000 is not widely popular across the globe. It is being called “Nature Isle of the Caribbean” and as Lafond referred to it “True Gem of the Caribbean,”, the country is known for its beauty, peace and tranquil environment.
As a small state, the country has limited access to resources as the economy runs with the help of the tourism who came to spend their relaxing time in the lap of nature through air or cruise.
What is it like to be from a small island like Dominica?
Thea Lafond delivered first ever Olympic medal and that too Gold to Dominica, making her put her home country put name on the map. She became a source of inspiration for such countries as it is a big deal for them to be recognized on a big stage.
But what is exactly feel like to be from Dominica which is being recognized only these times when something exceptional happens. There are millions of people across the globe who doesn’t even know about the SIDS or there is country in the Caribbean with 70,000 population.
Dominica is the small states and fight for her survival due to several issues such as geographical locations, problems arise due to climate change and the negative impacts of the policies adopted by the developed world.
Due to the access to limited resources, Dominica has faced the wrath of nature in the form of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and Hurricane Maria in 2017. This had caused massive devastation across the country, making them lose their homes, infrastructure and even that limited access to the resources.
The natural calamities have made them rise again from zero and build back for their survival, opening route to the resilient approach. Dominica set an example of resilience in front of the world by constructing resilient infrastructures, homes and hotels that are sustainable.
The country, prone to such issues and every year faces the threats of hurricanes and natural calamities from June to November, can produce athletes like Thea Lafond, which is a big deal.
What does this gold medal mean for Dominica?
As Lafond said that her victory is the big deal for Dominica, the celebration has started across the nation for honouring the scripted history at the stage of Paris Olympics. The victory has played the national anthem in Olympics and waved Dominica’s flag on the podium proudly.
For such small countries, big victories become even more special for their identity and recognition across the globe. The stage, which is being dominated by big and developed countries, the athlete from small world surpasses all of them and stood on the highest in the stadium is a big deal for Dominica.
Hence, the emotions of her country were well-portrayed by Thea Lafond during her interview as she said,”Now, Dominica has a gold medal, which is great.”
