Reigning World Indoor and Olympic triple jump champion Thea LaFond-Gadson is already in China ahead of the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships, despite entering the competition as an ‘unqualified’ athlete, according to Dominica Amateur Athletics Association President Brendan Williams.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Tyra Gittens-Spotsville admitted to feeling a mix of frustration and reflection after finishing 12th overall in the women’s long jump at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
The 26-year-old, who was one of only two athletes selected to represent T&T at the championships, registered a best mark of 6.36m. However, her performance was marred by a moment that left her wondering what might have been.
Trinidad and Tobago’s multi-talented track and field star, Tyra Gittens-Spotsville, is embracing a fresh wave of excitement as she prepares to compete in her first-ever World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, from March 21-23. The 26-year-old long jumper, who has been a dominant force in the NCAA circuit, expressed sheer joy at achieving a goal she had set for herself earlier this season.
Her compatriot, Shericka Jackson is also through to the next round.
Lined up in the final of six heats, the 19-year-old Olympian shot from the blocks, and running relaxed, sped away from the field to win in 7.06, lowering her personal best from the 7.09 she ran at the New Balance Grand Prix in February.
She was the fastest Caribbean athlete through to the semi-final round of the competition as Shericka Jackson ran 7.16 to finish second in Heat 5 behind Great Britain’s Daryll Neita, who clocked 7.13.
Meanwhile, Mikiah Brisco of the USA was the fastest through to the semis after she ran 7.03 to win Heat 3. Gold medal favourite Ewa Swoboda, who owns the world lead of 6.99, cruised through to the next round in 7.10. Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas finished third in Swoboda’s heat in 7.22.
Mary-Beth Sant Price of the USA, who is also a medal prospect, ran 7.07 to win the opening heat.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle Lee Ahye also advanced after clocking 7.23 to be the runner up in Heat 2 behind Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, who won in 7.17.
In the 400m, Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago advanced to the next round after easily winning his heat in 46.69 while Christopher Taylor finished second in his heat in 46.48 to also advance to the next round.
Among the women, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Stephenie-Ann McPherson along with Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams all advanced to the semi-finals. Miller-Uibo and McPherson finished 1-2 in Heat 5 in 51.74 and 51.86, respectively while Abrams was second in Heat 4 in 52.34.
Williams followed up her personal best 7.06 in the heats with a time of 7.07 to win the third semi-final ahead of Lee-Ahye who ran 7.12 for second place and an automatic berth in the final.
Jackson came third in the first semi-final and qualified as one of the fastest losers with a personal best of 7.08. The final is scheduled for later on Friday.
Stephenie Ann-McPherson won semi-final one of the Women’s 400m in 51.26 ahead of Femke Bol (51.28). Aliyah Abrams of Guyana finished third in 51.57 to also advance to the final. Shaunae Miller-Uibo looked in ominous form, easily winning semi-final two in a comfortable season’s best 51.38.
Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago put himself in position for a medal when he won his semi-final heat in 46.15.
It was bad news for Christopher Taylor who appeared to suffer an injury and did not finish his semi-final heat.
The Women’s and Men's 400m finals are scheduled for Saturday.
Bahamian Olympian sprint hurdler Denisha Cartwright may have missed out on a place in the final at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing a week ago, but she walked away with her head held high and a clear vision for what comes next: making a serious statement outdoors.
As part of the sponsorship, Sony will support all World Athletics Series events starting from the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 in March. The agreement will also include the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025.
Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the vision to "continue to deliver Kando and Anshin* to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges," Sony Corporation supports the Sony Group with technology to create the entertainment of the future together with creators.
Both parties came to this agreement based on a mutual understanding of each other’s philosophy.
Sony aims to work with creators and leverage the power of technology to generate emotion-filled experiences for sports fans across the globe and capture them on film and in photographs.
Sony will further enhance emotion from athletes’ awe-inspiring achievements captured by content creators, including photographers, and deliver them to the world through cutting-edge technologies like the Alpha™ mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and versatile interchangeable lens including G Master™, system cameras and broadcast solutions.
In addition, Hawk-Eye Innovations, which has a proven track record of providing services for international events in a variety of sports, will contribute to fair competition management through its officiating services.
“We are entering an exciting few years for our sport and I can think of no better partner than Sony to help us capture the excitement, the thrill and the breathtaking performances our sport promises to bring,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “As the No.1 Olympic sport, the eyes of the world will be squarely focused on athletics this year as our athletes compete across our five World Athletics Series events, plus Paris.
“We look forward to the outstanding photographs Sony will capture at our events to immortalise these many moments in our sport’s history.”
Hiroki Totoki, President, COO and CFO of Sony Group Corporation, said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with World Athletics to sponsor their World Athletics Series events, which are known as the world's top competitions in athletics.
“Based on our purpose to ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology’, Sony will contribute to the development of sports by leveraging technology to enhance the emotion generated by sports and deliver it to sports fans around the world.”
Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this week drawing outrage from governments and sporting organisations across the globe. World Athletics joined the throng on Thursday in a statement released on its website and on several media platforms.
In the statement, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe is said to have spoken to senior vice-president Sergey Bubka and the Ukraine Athletics Federation offering support.
Since 2015, the Russian Athletics Federation has been suspended from World Athletics due to doping violations and is, therefore, ineligible to host World Athletics events or send teams to international championships.
“We know that China is doing all it can to contain the new Coronavirus and we support them in all their efforts but it is necessary to provide our athletes, Member Federations and partners with a clear way forward in what is a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances,” World Athletics said in a statement Wednesday.
“The advice from our medical team, who are in contact with the World Health Organisation, is that the spread of the Coronavirus both within China and outside the country is still at a concerning level and no one should be going ahead with any major gathering that can be postponed.”
World Athletics said it considered the possibility of relocating the event to another country and thanked the cities that volunteered to host the championships. “However, given concerns still exist regarding the spread of the virus outside China, we have decided not to go with this option, as it may lead to further postponement at a later date,” it said.
“The indoor season for athletics falls within a narrow calendar window (up to the end of March) and we believe we will be able to find a suitable date in 2021 to host this event. We would like Nanjing to be the host given the extensive planning and preparation they have put into this event,” World Athletics said.
“We have chosen not to cancel the championships as many of our athletes would like this event to take place so we will now work with our athletes, our partners and the Nanjing organising committee to secure a date in 2021 to stage this event.”