Thea LaFond’s history-making win at the 2024 Paris Olympics was a special moment for all of her loved ones, including her brother.
With a distance of 15.02 meters, the 30-year-old athlete took home the gold in the women’s triple jump on Saturday, Aug. 3. She earned the Caribbean island nation of Dominica its first-ever gold medal.
While her brother, Navy football defensive end Chreign LaFond, couldn’t go to Paris to see the moment live, his coaches made sure he found out about the win during football practice.
The team uploaded a video on X, formerly Twitter, of a coach calling Chreign out of practice in front of his team members before announcing, “Hey, your sister just won a gold medal.”
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Immediately after, his teammates cheered and huddled around Chreign as he hugged his coach. The team could then be seen clapping and jumping as various members screamed, “Let’s go!”
“The moment when you find out your sister won a gold medal at the Olympics! Congratulations, Thea LaFond!” Navy football captioned the clip.
Thea LaFond comments on viral video.
Good Morning America/Instagram
LaFond was thankful that her brother learned about the win with his team. “Thank you for sharing our story. My brother was so sad he wasn’t there. I’m happy his teammates were able to celebrate with him,” she wrote underneath a clip of the video shared by Good Morning America on Instagram.
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Securing the victory was “absolutely beyond my wildest dreams,” LaFond told Olympics.com.
Thea Lafond celebrates after the women’s triple jump final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty
“At this point, every time I step on the track is an honor, bearing the flag is an honor, being Dominican is an honor. Representing a country with only 70,000 people and being out here and getting their first medal, a gold, is an honor. In all things, give thanks,” she said.
The Olympian moved from Dominica to the U.S. at age 5 and holds dual citizenship, per her Olympics.com bio. She began representing Dominica internationally in 2011 and won the triple jump title at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in March.
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Publish date : 2024-08-05 13:17:00
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