Love for golden girls

St Lucia and Dominica are marking their first Olympic gold medals by celebrating the champion athletes who are raising their islands’ awareness worldwide.

St Lucia’s Hewanorra International Airport now has a giant poster of sprinter Julien Alfred who won the women’s 100 metres and took silver in the 200m at the Paris Olympics earlier this month.

And a week after Grenada threw a huge party, motorcade and presentation of gifts for three medallists at the Paris Olympics, Dominica on Sunday did likewise for triple jumper Thea La Fond-Gadson whose gold was the first ever Olympic medal for the Emerald Island.

La Fond-Gadson, her husband and coach Aaron rode in a state vehicle and motorcade with other family members from Portsmouth in the north to the capital Roseau as thousands of Dominicans lined the streets, waving flags and congratulating her.

La Fond-Gadson’s achievement is being hailed worldwide but it is Alfred’s two medals that are attracting the most attention. “We’re so proud of Julien Alfred being the fastest woman in the world,” Cuthbert ‘Twatinay’ Modeste, a St Lucian track and field coach who has trained Alfred since she was 11, told the BBC. “We can’t wait to share our excitement and embrace anyone who is inspired to visit us because of Julien.”

St Lucia has long been a popular destination for honeymooners through its tropical climate, lush rainforest and the towering twin Piton mountains.  However, the Olympic success and a new album by Beyoncé protégé Chloe Bailey inspired by St Lucia is leading tourism officials to highlight that it is much more than sandy beaches, cruises and all-inclusive resorts.

In the days after Alfred’s historic Olympic win, the island’s official tourism board made her the face of its #LetHerInspireYou marketing campaign – so coined because St Lucia is the only sovereign nation in the world named after a real-life woman. The catchphrase for visitors is to “explore St Lucia like an Olympian”.

La Fond-Gadson needed crutches at the celebration because of recent surgery to a troublesome right knee that was painful well before the Games. Determined to compete, she said she worked through the pain barrier to get gold.

“The doctor said you can stop jumping for three months and miss the Olympics. I did not cry. I realised we could manage. We persevered and we won. I will be fine in a couple months. I am one week post-surgery,” she told a huge crowd to loud applause at an outdoor rally attended by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and thousands of locals. She reminded the audience that she came close to medalling at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but her leap was ruled as a foul.