Thea LaFond

LaFond emigrated from Dominica to the United States as a young child.^[1][2] During her childhood, she was a dancer (ballerina).^[3] She is a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she later returned to be a special education teacher.^[4][5] At the University of Maryland, LaFond was a multi-event athlete who competed in the heptathlon and indoor pentathlon.

LaFond competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's triple jump; her result of 12.82 meters in the qualifying round did not qualify her for the final.^[6][7]

Competing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, she made history, becoming the first Dominican athlete to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games after securing a bronze medal in the women's triple jump.^[8][9][10] She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she served as Dominica's flag bearer, alongside fellow track and field athlete Dennick Luke.^[11] During the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she improved her result and won a silver medal in the women's triple jump event. In 2026 , she won the gold medal in the women's triple jump at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal for Dominica.^[12]

On 3 March 2024, LaFond became the first person from Dominica to win a World Championship gold medal, after taking first place in women's triple jump at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, setting a national record of 15.01 m.^[13]

She won her country's first-ever Olympic medal when she took gold at the Paris Games, setting a new national record record of 15.02 metres in the process.^[14][15][16] Thereafter, she was rewarded by the government of Dominica with $400,000, appointment as a national sports ambassador, a diplomatic passport, as well as a 7,459-square-foot (693.0 m²) parcel of land in the village of Warner, Saint Paul Parish. A track and field facility would also be built and named in her honour, and she would be granted the Dominica Award of Honour during independence day celebrations in early November.^[17]

LaFond is married to Aaron Gadson, who is also her coach.^[18] They live in Maryland. She is Catholic.^[19]

LaFond has a brother, Chreign, who plays defensive end for the Navy Midshipmen.^[20]