Thea Lafond: Dominica celebrates its 1st Olympic Gold Medallist on 46th Independence Day

During the celebrations of the 46th Independence Day, Dominica honoured and celebrated the island’s historic Olympic gold medallist Thea Lafond Gadson.  

Accompanied by the President of the Dominica Olympic Committee, Billy Doctrove, Lafond reached the stage in a traditional “Madras Print” dress and received the honour from President Sylvanie Burton.  

President Burton hugged Thea Lafond after giving her the Prestigeous honour, showing the empowerment of women in Dominica.  

Notably, Lafond made history by winning the first ever gold medal for the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Triple Jump category at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her victory made headlines not only nationally or regionally but across the globe, getting her name engraved in history.  

Thea Lafond has been representing Dominica at international platforms since the age of 16. She is also a world champion and Word Athletics' Indoor Gold Medallist.  

Over the years, Thea Lafond has won over 14 major medals in international competitions. Her photograph was also put forth on the Independence Day graphic posted by the Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit.  

Following her honour during the Independence Day celebrations, Thea Lafond also posted on her Instagram, and shared images of the ceremony write “Today, I got the National Award”. 

Following her historic victory, Lafond is an idol for young girls, not only in Dominica but across the world.  

Married in 2022, Lafond lives in the Maryland, US with her husband and coach Aaron Gadson.  

She also represented Dominica at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Australia and won a bronze medal.  She also stood third at the NACAC Championship Toronto Canada in the same year.  

Lafond had represented Dominica during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and was the flag bearer, however she stood at 12th position.  

In 2024, before winning the Olympics, Thea Lafond won the World Indoor Championships hosted at Glasgow, United Kingdom recording a whopping 15.01M in Triple Jump.