Just like millions of people in every corner of the world, 27-year-old Thea LaFond tuned in to watch the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, her viewing of the Beijing games was through a different lens than most, as in the summers of 2016 and 2021, LaFond was on the other side of things, competing in the Olympic games herself in the sport of track (triple-jump), and she’s already training for the 2024 Olympic games.
A longtime Montgomery County resident, and former MCPS student and teacher, LaFond doesn’t compete for the US, but for her birth-country, Dominica. A small Caribbean island home to around 70,000 (roughly equal to the population of Gaithersburg), Dominica was a home filled with happy memories for a young LaFond. Although she moved to the US when she was only five, LaFond still remembers having to put on her school uniform every day for pre-k, and being dropped off for school in a news van by her mother, a Dominican news anchor. She also recalls the day she learned she would be leaving Dominica for the United States. Her family had taken a trip to one of Dominica’s gorgeous beaches when her father broke the news to her.
“I remember being on the sand with him, with my shoes in my hand, and he was telling me how we were going to be leaving,” LaFond said, “And I remember looking around being like: we’re leaving all this, like, why?”
Although sad to leave the small Caribbean island that had been her only home, young LaFond met the move with maturity and excitement. After living in New Jersey for two and a half years, her family settled in Maryland. At this point in her life, track-and-field wasn’t even a thought for the future Olympian, as she was a classically trained dancer, in ballet, tap, and jazz. It wasn’t until her freshman year at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, that she took up the sport that would eventually get her to the Olympics. Following her mom’s rule that she had to be in an after-school activity, LaFond decided on track simply because many of her friends were doing it.
“I wanted an event that I could hang out with my friends,” she said, “and track and field was it.”
Although it started as a fun after-school activity, she soon realized the potential she had in track. By the end of her first year in track, she had been making finals in almost every event. From 2010-2011, she won the Maryland 3A state titles in nine different events. She was dominating.
Soon enough, she was a top three college recruit in the nation, receiving scholarship offers from top Division 1 programs such as the University of South Carolina, Penn State University and the University of Louisville. The University of Maryland offered as well, but LaFond initially wasn’t keen on going to a school so close to her Silver Spring home. In fact, she was already verbally committed to Penn State. However, after some convincing from her high school coach Kevin Monroe, LaFond decided to give Maryland a visit. The visit would turn out to be life-changing.
“[Maryland] just felt like a place that would really just kind of help craft me more than as an athlete, but actually like as a person and as a scholar,” she said.
It wouldn’t be long before LaFond took back her verbal commitment to Penn State, and accepted the full scholarship offer from UMD. Upon arriving at Maryland, she quickly realized the track program’s emphasis on family. From bus rides during the season, to team bowling outings on off-days, the support system created from UMD track helped LaFond get through the ups and downs of college.
Two years after she graduated from Maryland, LaFond did what all in her sport dream of doing: she competed in her first Olympic games in the triple-jump event. Just one of two athletes representing Dominica at the 2016 Rio Olympics, first arriving in Brazil was a “dream come true” for LaFond. She loved being able to befriend fellow athletes from all over the world and explore the beautiful landscapes of Brazil, but her ultimate goal was to make an impression on the global stage. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
A few days before she was set to compete, LaFond felt a pull in her left hamstring, and during a jump during the qualifying round she felt an agonizing rip in that same hamstring. LaFond knew immediately that she couldn’t push through the pain, which she described as a “knife” in her hamstring. There was nothing she could do; her 2016 Olympics had come to an abrupt end.
“I was heartbroken,” she said.
Devastated, and unable to compete, LaFond still had another week or two left in Rio. After giving herself two days to cry and let her emotions out, she told herself that she still needed to get back to enjoying the journey of the Olympics. She continued doing interviews with the Dominican press, making friends with her fellow Olympians, and was able to make the best of a tough situation.
When she came home, she decided to make a change. She didn’t want what happened in 2016 to happen again. En route to compete again in the 2020 Tokyo games, she got a new coach, adjusted aspects of her technique, and most importantly, changed her mindset.
“[In 2016] I think there was a lot more doubt in my head,” she said, “Whereas 2020 I came in, like guns blazing. Like, I felt like I belonged there.”
With a tenacious belief in herself, LaFond spent the years following Rio getting ready for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Feeling stronger, faster, and more confident than before, LaFond was more than ready for a second chance at the Olympics. However, just months before the scheduled start of the Olympics, fate intervened once again. For the first time since 1944, the Olympics were called off– postponed until 2021– thanks to a raging coronavirus pandemic that was forcing people all over the world into isolation. Shocked and disappointed, LaFond had to “rewire” her brain to prepare for 2021 as opposed to 2020.
“I think I was a bit sad for a little while,” she recalled, “And then after a while, you kind of get over it and realize that you’re just doing what’s best for humankind.”
During the summer of 2020, when she was initially supposed to be competing in Tokyo, LaFond continued her preparation for the now-2021 olympics. With the pandemic limiting access to the indoor facilities she would normally train at, she was forced to get creative. Building her own weightlifting setup at home, and utilizing the outdoor tracks of Montgomery County, LaFond was able to continue her training despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. For LaFond, stopping was not an option.
“You got to make something happen,” she said, “Because dreams aren’t gonna stop for a pandemic.”
The summer of 2021 finally came, and it was time for Tokyo. After an extra year of waiting, LaFond’s Tokyo experience was much different than her experience in Rio. Covid protocols prohibited athletes from leaving the Olympic village, required them to test every morning, and limited spectators from watching events. A change of pace from 2016, LaFond couldn’t let the pandemic distract her from her ultimate goal. Heading into Tokyo, she felt she was “a force to be reckoned with.”
In qualifying rounds, she was just that. She set a personal best, 14.6 meters, on her first jump in the preliminary round, becoming the first athlete in her country’s history to qualify for an Olympic final. Although one of her jumps during finals was even further, at more than 15 meters, her foot had crossed the foul line, and once again, her Olympics were over.
Now, with two Olympics under her belt, Lafond looks to Paris in 2024. While she is still fine tuning some aspects of her approach, and continuing her rigorous training schedule, she feels that much of the hard work has already been done. With unmistakable and unwavering confidence, LaFond believes that soon, the world will know her name.
“Look out for me,” she said, “We’re not done yet.”
Article by Sammy Krimstein of Quince Orchard High School
Photo courtesy of Montgomery Community Media