Thea LaFond’s Brother Hears Sister Won Gold at Navy Football Practice

The newly crowned gold medalist was born in Dominica, a Caribbean island with a population of about 72,000. There are no track and field facilities on the island, according to the Washington Post.

Thea LaFond immigrated to the United States at age 5 and lived in New Jersey and then Maryland, according to her Olympic biography. The runner became a star in high school and went on to compete at the University of Maryland.

Thea LaFond finished in the top 10 women’s events in both the high jump and the triple jump at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Maryland, the school announced.

That same year, she was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year. During her senior year in 2015, she was named the Big Ten’s Field Athlete of the Year.

The Paris Games were Thea LaFond’s third Olympic Games for Dominica. She previously competed in the Tokyo and Rio Games. In March, she won the triple jump title at the World Indoor Championships.

After her historic victory, Thea LaFond told the Washington Post that her ties to the island, which she visited often as a child, remain strong.

“I was never allowed to forget where I came from,” she said.

Thea LaFond knows her medal will be celebrated.

“Oh, God, my country will never stop partying, right?” Thea LaFond told the Washington Post. “And it’s Saturday? Just cancel work on Monday, guys.”

“They deserve this just as much as I do,” LaFond said. “And I hope they party hard enough for both of us. I don’t know what I’ve done in my life to deserve this. I don’t know how it all turned out — I’m not going to say I don’t know. We worked hard for this.”