Thea LaFond wins Dominica’s first Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow

Dominica: Thea LaFond-Gadson has won Dominica’s first-ever gold medal at the Commonwealth Games after she secured the first place in the women’s triple jump at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday, July 30. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has congratulated her for this achievement.

LaFond-Gadson won the final with a jump of 14.60m, with legal wind reading of +0.7 m/s. Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith finished second with 14.04m, while her compatriot Shantae Foreman took bronze with 13.96m.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit congratulated LaFond on this victory through a social media post. He said, “Congratulations to Thea Lafond-Gadson on winning Gold in the Women’s Triple Jump at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.”

He added further, “Your achievement is another proud moment for Dominica! Way to go Champ!”

LaFond has also completed her collection of all three medals at the Commonwealth Games with this achievement. 

She won the bronze in the women’s triple jump at the 2018 Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and became the first Dominican athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal. She then won silver at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England, before claiming gold in Glasgow.

La-Fond has also won a gold in the women’s triple jump at the Paris Olympics with a national-record jump of 15.02m. This was Dominica’s first-ever Olympic medal.

She is also the first Dominican athlete to win a World Athletics Indoor Championships gold medal in 2024, taking the triple jump title in Glasgow with a national record of 15.01m. 

In 2025, LaFond-Gadson added another major achievement to her career, when she won silver in the women’s triple jump at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She finished with a jump of 14.89m.

LaFond-Gadson entered the 2026 Commonwealth Games after she set a new national record in the triple jump earlier this year. She jumped 15.25m on June 26 in Geneva, Ohio. World Athletics lists the mark as her personal best and national record.

Her victory in 2026 Glasgow gives Dominica its first Commonwealth Games gold medal. The country had won a Commonwealth Games medal but had never taken a gold before this. Her 2018 bronze was Dominica’s first medal at the Games, while her 2022 silver was the country’s second medal.