Thea LaFond

Sports Career of Thea LaFond | Thea LaFond Biography

Thea LaFond won Dominica’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in 2024, when she leaped 15.02 meters in Paris. The monumental achievement led to Dominica’s government giving her a diplomatic visa and naming her a national sports ambassador.

In high school, LaFond ran the 100-meter hurdles and triple jumped, finishing fifth and eighth at the US National High School Championships respectively in 2010. The next year, she returned to win the triple jump and finish second in the hurdles

LaFond got her first taste of international competition in 2011 at the CACAC Junior Championships in El Salvador. She finished second in the triple jump with a best of 12.94m. She also competed at the World Junior Championships, jumping 12.66 meters but not advancing from qualifying. 

College Years

Starting in 2012, LaFond went on to compete with the University of Maryland in the NCAA. In her first year, she competed in the triple jump as well as the indoor pentathlon. At the NCAA Division I Championships, she finished tenth in the pentathlon. She posted her season’s best of 12.90 meters in the triple jump at the ACC Indoor Championships.

During the outdoor season, she competed primarily in the triple jump and high jump. Her jump of 13.25 meters earned her tenth place at the NCAA Division I Championships, and her high jump of 1.83 meters placed her eighth. She competed at both of these events at the Pan American Junior Championships, finishing third in the high jump.

She continued splitting her time between the triple jump and multi events in the next year and qualified for the Commonwealth Games in the triple jump and high jump.

LaFond would forego the multi-events in 2014 to focus primarily on the jumps. The decision would pay off, and she jumped a slightly windy 13.60 meters at the NACAC Championships in Costa Rica, finishing sixth. She also finished twelfth in the triple jump at the Pan American Games in Toronto with 13.35 meters and thirteenth in the high jump with 1.80 meters.

In 2015, she jumped a legal 13.61 meters and a windy 13.70 meters. She qualified for her first Olympic Games, finishing 18^th in qualifying but gaining valuable experience for when she would return.

Professional Career

By 2017, LaFond exclusively focused on the triple jump. She broke the 14.00-meter barrier for the first time in April with a jump of 14.20 meters at the Penn Relays. She qualified for her first World Championships, jumping 13.82 meters and finishing 11^th in her qualifying section.

Although LaFond wouldn’t set a personal best in 2018, she went over 14 meters twice and finished third at the NACAC Championships.

Her next personal best came t the Florida Relays in 2019 when she jumped 14.38 meters. At the Pan American Games, she jumped 13.70 meters and finished eighth. She qualified for the World Championships but wouldn’t post a mark.

Most of LaFond’s 2020 season was disrupted because of the pandemic, but she jumped over 14 meters in her two meetings. Upon her return in 2021, she set a personal best of 14.52 meters in her first meet back, followed by 14.54 meters shortly after. She improved upon this again in her first Diamond League meeting in Doha, jumping 14.57 meters with a slightly illegal wind and finishing fourth.

LaFond once again returned to the Olympic Games in 2021. She jumped 14.60 meters in qualifying to win her section and advance to the final. In the final, she only jumped 12.57 meters and finished twelfth. 

LaFond jumped over 14 meters at nearly all of her competitions in 2022. She returned to the NACAC Championships and won with a jump of 14.49 meters. In September, she jumped a windy 14.71 meters in Padova, Italy.

LaFond’s next big personal best would come at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where she jumped 14.90 meters in the final. Despite being one of the longest jumps in history, she would finish fifth.

Thea LaFond Wins Gold

LaFond had already established herself as one of the best triple jumpers of all time heading into the 2024 season, and she asserted this early with a season opener of 14.60 meters in February and a new personal best of 15.01 meters at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, winning gold.

In her last meeting heading into the Olympics, LaFond jumped 14.87 meters at the Monaco Diamond League, showing that she was in good form but finishing behind Leyanis Pérez-Hernández, who jumped 14.96 meters.

LaFond easily made it into the final at the Olympics with a jump of 14.35 meters, to finish third in her qualifying section.

In the final, she opened with a jump of 14.32 meters. Her coach and husband, Aaron Gadson, came to her after the first round and told her a “torrential downpour” was coming in 20 minutes and that she had to do something big now. LaFond responded by setting a new personal best of 15.02 meters in round two before the rain came.

Nobody would be able to touch her mark in the rain, and she held on to win the Olympic Gold medal.

She finished second at the 2025 World Athletics Championships with a jump of 14.89 meters, this time behind Pérez-Hernández.

Thea LaFond Personal Life and Other Facts | Thea LaFond

Thea LaFond came to the United States as a child. She graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and later worked there as a special education teacher.

Thea LaFond’s brother, Chreign, is a defensive end for the Navy Midshipmen in the NCAA.

She’s married to Aaron Gadson, who has been her coach since they were introduced in 2016. One of the first things they worked on was changing her take-off leg.

After becoming her country’s first-ever Olympic Champion, she was gifted with $400,000 and given the title of sports ambassador. She and her husband/coach both received diplomatic passports. They also received a 7,459-square-foot plot of land.

FAQs | Thea LaFond

When Did Thea LaFond Win Gold? | Thea LaFond medals

Thea LaFond won the gold medal in the women’s triple jump at the 2024 Olympics, becoming the first woman from Dominica to achieve this honor.