Saint Lucian CARIFTA champion Jady Emmanuel joins University of Texas

Saint Lucia: Jady Emmanuel, a double CARIFTA Games champion, has joined the University of Texas track and field programme under head coach Edrick Floreal. This news was shared with the public on Thursday, January 8, 2026. Emmanuel is from Morne Paul in Laborie and is a student at Choiseul Secondary.

“Saint Lucia is proud to introduce sprint sensation Jady Emmanuel to the global Saint Lucian diaspora,” Saint Lucia Diaspora (SLUDIA) shared via an official Facebook post.

Emmanuel is the newest Saint Lucian sprinter to sign with Texas. The Laborie sprint sensation will write history as she follows in the footsteps of Olympic medallist Julien Alfred and rising star Naomi London in strengthening Saint Lucia’s presence in the University of Texas track and field programme.

“Jady Emmanuel now joins a new generation of Saint Lucian athletes making waves internationally, following the trail blazed by national icon and Olympic champion Julien Alfred. With fellow Saint Lucian sprinter Naomi London,” noted (SLUDIA).

Julien Alfred had an outstanding journey at the University of Texas. She won many NCAA titles in the 60m, 100m and 200m for both indoor and outdoor tracks. She made history by winning Saint Lucia's first medals in Olympic Games, World Championship, and World Indoor Championships after college. Alfred now volunteers as an assistant coach at UT.

Naomi London is from Vieux Fort and joined the University of Texas in 2024 but is yet to compete for the team. She won silver in the 100m and 200m at the CARIFTA Games in 2023. London also broke Julien Alfred’s national junior record in the 100m in 2025.

Emmanuel became an outstanding performer at the Longhorns track and field programme. She made history in the recent CARIFTA Games in Trinidad and Tobago during Easter by becoming the first Saint Lucian female to win sprint gold at the championship at the age of 16. Emmanuel also won a second gold medal in the 200m event.

Her performance at the U17 level was outstanding. She ran 11.50 seconds in the 100m and 23.47 in the 200m. These were the fastest recorded times ever by a Saint Lucian female youth athlete under 18.