Thea LaFond is gearing up for another successful season after achieving remarkable success last year. LaFond, who is based in Ashburn, Virginia, is excited to see how her hard work during the offseason will translate into her performances this year.

The year 2022 was a massive one for the 29-year-old LaFond, who won gold at the NACAC Championships in The Bahamas and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games Birmingham, England. She was also fifth in the finals at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. However, with that success she has no intention of resting on her laurels as the 2023 season continues to unfold.

"Last season's medals were truly an amazing experience," she told Sportsmax.TV. "To build on last year's success, I have gotten stronger and faster, and I'm eager to see how that translates through the season."

LaFond has set her sights on achieving a jump of 15m or more this year.

"15m plus is definitely one of the major goals for championships and beyond," she said. "This season, we are really focused on upping the energy and working on timing up the phases a bit better for even bigger and active contacts in the jumps."

Despite fierce competition from the imperious Venezuelan triple jumper, three-time world champion Yulimar Rojas, the current world record holder, who has dominated the event in recent years, LaFond maintains a positive mindset.

"I think that my mentality is that I am always battling it out for three medals. Always," said LaFond. "Rojas is very good, there is no denying that, but anything can happen at any meet. Coming into a competition with anything less of that mentality is setting yourself up for failure. I'm bringing my best and trying to win."

Despite the hard work put in during the off season, her indoor season-opener of 14.08m at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico was less than impressive but being a quick study, she made the necessary adjustments and did much better shortly thereafter popping a 14.60m jump. She cited approach issues for the relatively poor opener.

"One of the major takeaways was to be patient in my drive phase and to bring my knee higher so I'm not getting over-rotated in my second phase," said LaFond who is set to compete next in May at a meet in Savona, Italy.

She acknowledges the impact her recent success has had on the youth of Dominica and is grateful for their support.

“The Commonwealth and NACAC medals were received with such joy in Dominica. I think that as an athlete that lives and trains abroad, I’m really only privy to what people say online,” she said.

“I was grateful for the online posts of love and support that followed those medals. However, when I finally got to go home the love was overflowing. I really had no clue how much I impacted the youth of Dominica and how much I was seen as an inspiration. I am so grateful to have the support of my people and it is always an honor to represent my nation.”

 LaFond is also focused on the upcoming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with her coach Aaron Gadson. "My plans for Budapest are to go and compete with all my heart. The goal is a medal and 15m. It's time for Dominica to have a woman World medalist, and I'm ready to do the work to get there," she said.

Nicholas Paul completed a successful weekend Sunday winning gold in the Men’s Elite Sprint at the Tissot UCI Nations Cup meet in Milton, Canada.

The 25-year-old Trinidadian, the 2022 Commonwealth Games Keirin gold medalist, out-sped Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk to take the win and 800 points on Sunday.

Australia’s Matthew Richardson finished third.

Paul and Richardson reversed positions in the Men’s Keirin on Saturday with the Australian taking gold over Maximillian Dornbach of Germany. Paul had to settle for third.

Bahamian swimming star Joanna Evans intends to appeal before the Court of Arbitration, a decision by the FINA Doping Panel to ban her from the sport for two years after she tested positive for Clostebol. The decision was handed down on February 15, 2023.

She will do so, she said, with the support of the Bahamas Aquatic Federation, her family, coaches, friends and community.

Clostebol is a synthetic anabolic–androgenic steroid and is the 4-chloro derivative of the natural hormone testosterone. The chlorination prevents conversion to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) while also rendering the chemical incapable of conversion to estrogen.

A multiple CAC Games gold medalist and two-time Olympian, the 25-year-old Evans claims in a recent lengthy and emotional post on Instagram that she would never knowingly use a banned substance, adding that the situation has put her in a constant state of distress.

“Anyone who knows me, knows without hesitation that I would never, ever intentionally take a banned substance,” she said.

“The results show an unfathomable low amount of the substance which absolutely could not have enhanced my performance.”

Evans said she was tested in Austin, Texas on December 3, 2021 and was “stunned” when she was informed over the phone that her sample contained a banned substance.

She explained how she believes she came to test positive saying that while attending a meet in Naples, Italy on September 11, 2021, she cut her finger on a “jagged, rusty balcony” at the hotel where she was staying.

“Concerned about infection, I walked to a nearby pharmacy and asked for an antibiotic cream,” she said.

“I was given a tube of Trofodermin, which I believed was similar to the antibiotic Neomycin. Unknown to me at the time, an ingredient of Trofodermin is the banned substance Clostebol.”

She used the cream for three days.

On her return to Austin on October 30, 2021, she slipped on a concrete pavement and sustained a substantial gash on her knee. She used the same cream she bought in Italy. She said she used the cream for five days and then once or twice a week until the end of November that year.

A distraught Evans stated that life has been difficult since she received news of her positive test.

“Since my test result, I have been unable to function. I am broken and devastated as swimming has been my life for many years,” she said while reiterating that she is not a drug cheat.

“I would never cheat and I take pride in representing my country, college, family, friends and community to the best of my ability.

“I have a history of dozens of clean tests and conduct myself with integrity in all aspects of my life. I find it incredulous that a miniscule amount of a banned substance applied unknowingly through a topical cream can have such life-altering consequences.”

As such, Evans has hired a “specialist attorney” in this field to represent me in legal proceedings to defend my integrity and the reputation of Bahamas swimming.

West Indies ODI captain, Shai Hope ended his three-match stint with English County Championship side Yorkshire County Cricket Club with an unbeaten half century in their drawn match against Sussex on Sunday.

The 29-year-old had a fairly successful run with the Division II County Cricket side scoring 13 and 83 in a loss to Leicestershire and 38 and 53 not out in a draw against Sussex. Yorkshire’s match against Gloucestershire was abandoned.

Notwithstanding the short run, Hope said he had a good time playing league cricket.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Yorkshire family. The culture they’ve created facilitated a smooth transition into what was a quick turnaround for me to add to a relatively young team,” said the 29-year-old Hope, who is not ruling out a return to the club.

“Thank you for having me and hope to see you in the not so distant future.”

According to Yorkshire, Hope will be missed.

“Sadly we say goodbye to Shai as he heads home after his three games with us. Shai has been a legend on and off the field. Thank you Shai,” it said on Instagram.

Adaejah Hodge completed a sprint double at the Pure Athletics Spring Invitational at the National Training Centre in Clermont, Florida on Sunday when Jereem Richards took victory in the 200m.

Hodge, the 17-year-old sprinting sensation from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) sped to a personal best 11.12 to win the 100m dash beating Germany’s Gina Luckenkemper, who finished second in 11.14. Celera Barnes was third in 11.16.

Hodge shaved 0.07 off her previous best of 11.18 that she ran at Florida State University on March 25 this year.

Clearly recovered from the rolled ankle that caused her to miss out on the 2023 Carifta Games in the Bahamas, Hodge would return later to win the 200m in a windy 22.76 (2.5m/s) ahead of Angie Annelus 23.20 and Rebekka Haase 23.24.

Richards, the Commonwealth Games 200m champion, in his first race in the event this season, won in an impressive opener of 20.40. Second overall in the race run in time-trial format was Jona Efoloko, who ran 20.56 while Hartmann Joshua was third overall in 20.62.

Hodge’s clubmate at Celerity Athletics 18-year-old Issamade Asinga raised eyebrows with a windy 10.83 (2.6m/s) to beat World 200m champion Noah Lyles (9.92) and Kendal Williams (9.98), who were second and third, respectively.

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw scored her 17^th league goal of the season on Sunday as Manchester City Women hit West Ham Women for six to move into second in the Women Super League table.

Shaw scored in the 62^nd minute that made it 4-1 for the Cityzens, who scored early and often in the match-up that ended 6-2 at the Academy Stadium.

 Chloe Kelly scored twice in the sixth and seventh minutes giving Manchester City early control of the match. Emma Sterle made it 2-1 in the 21^st minute but barely four minutes later, City regained their two-goal cushion when Laura Coombs headed in to make it 3-1.

Shaw added City’s fourth and Steph Houghton, who was celebrating her birthday added a fifth three minutes later. Khaira Keating’s own goal made it 5-2 in the 72^nd before Mary Fowler scored Manchester City’s sixth eight minutes from the end of regulation.

Manchester City Women now have 41 points from 18 games and are now just three points behind league leaders Manchester United Women.

Chelsea Women are third on 40 points but have played only 16 matches.

Not far behind, Arsenal Women who have 38 points from 17 matches played, complete the top four.

West Indies Academy defeated Headley XI by seven wickets on day three of the opening match of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Friday.

Trailing by 64 on first innings, Headley XI’s second innings lasted only 49 overs in which they were bundled out for 122 for a lead of just 58. West Indies Academy then reached 59-3 to seal the victory.

It was the Headley XI bowlers who saved their team from complete embarrassment as Justin Greaves top-scored with 30 and Akeem Jordan, 28, that helped their past the 100-run mark after West Indies Academy bowlers had scythed through the top order to have them tottering at 61-6.

The pair put on 50 for the seventh wicket that helped extend the match after Nyeem Young 3-17 and Kelvin Pittman 3-27 did the early damage. Joshua Bishop (2-18) and Ashmead Nedd 1-20 combined to clean up the tail leaving their batters to chase 59 for victory.

They duly obliged but not without a few stumbles as Chaim Holder dismissed Kirk McKenzie and Teddy Bishop for ducks and first innings century maker for 16 to finish with 3-22. However, Keagan Simmonds kept his cool to score an unbeaten 31 while sharing in a match-winning stand of 20 with Tevin Imlach who was unbeaten on eight at the end.

Scores in the match: Headley XI 259 (Joshua da Silva 136) and 122; West Indies Academy 323 (Kevlon Anderson 153) and 59-3.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has withdrawn from the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in Gaborone on April 29. Thursday. According to a statement released by the organizers on Thursday, the five-time world 100m champion has been forced to withdraw from the meet because of a family emergency.

The two-time Olympic 100m gold medalist was expected to open her campaign on the African continent as she prepares to attempt to win a sixth 100m title at the World Championships in Budapest in August.

 “I was very excited to kick off my season on Botswana, and while it comes as a disappointment, I will unfortunately no longer be able to compete in the Golden Grand Prix due to a family emergency,” the superstar athlete was quoted as saying.

The organizers wished the global track star the best.

“(We) wish Mrs Fraser-Pryce and her family well, Whilst we were looking forward to having Mrs Fraser-Pryce kick off her season in Botswana, we are working on getting another athlete to fill the gap in the Women’s 100m race,” they said.

Fraser-Pryce kicked off her campaign in Nairobi, Kenya in 2022, running a world-leading 10.67. It was the first of seven times that she would run under 10.70s in the 100m for the season including at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon where she became the first running athlete to win five titles in the same event since the championships began in 1983.

Kevlon Anderson's superb hundred provided the foundation for West Indies Academy to take a 64-run lead on first innings over Headley XI's 259 on the second day of their Headley Weekes Tri-Series match at Coolidge on Thursday.

Anderson scored 153 and Kirk McKenzie, 50, as West Indies Academy made 323 all out. At stumps, Headley XI, batting a second time, reached 27-1, trailing by 37 runs. 

The 22-year-old Guyanese right-hand batsman who was on 12 overnight and with Kirk McKenzie (31 overnight) had steered West Indies Academy away from potential disaster of 0-2 to 49-2 at stumps. On Thursday, they had extended that third-wicket partnership to 84 when Justin Greaves dismissed McKenzie for 50.

Greaves then dismissed Tevin Imlach for four and Kevin Wickham for five as West Indies Academy slipped from 84-2 to 102-5. Anderson and Nyeem Young then set about repairing the damage a sixth-wicket stand of 80, which ended when Anderson Phillip dismissed Young for 27.

Joshua Bishop came and went for 12, bowled by Marquino Mindley, who then dismissed Ashmead Nedd for a duck as West Indies Academy slipped once again to 202-8 and seemingly about to fall short of Headley XI’s first innings score.

However, Anderson found a useful partner in Johan Layne. Together they posted a ninth-wicket partnership of 120 that took West Indies Academy past Headley XI’s first innings score and gave them a 64-run lead by the time Anderson was dismissed by Darren Bravo. He hit 22 fours in the innings in which he faced 281 balls.

Kelvin Pitman was trapped lbw for a duck as the innings closed on 323 from 94 overs with Layne unbeaten on 38.

Greaves took 3-46 while Mindley had figures of 2-47. Jordan, who took the first two wickets to fall on Wednesday, failed to add to his tally Thursday and ended with figures of 2-77

A century from Captain Joshua da Silva spared Headley XI blushes against West Indies Academy on Wednesday’s opening day of the Headley Weekes Tri-Series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Having been restricted to 257-9, Headley XI have struck back to have West Indies Academy at 49-2 at stumps.

Da Silva’s unbeaten 136, rescued the team he leads from a precarious 59-5 after Johan Layne had ripped through the top order on his way to a five-wicket haul, dismissing Kieran Powell for a duck, Darren Bravo for five, Kavem Hodge for 10 and Tevyn Walcott for 15.

Headley XI’s problems were compounded when Sheyne Moseley retired hurt for nine.

The captain and Akeem Jordan managed to stem the slide with a sixth-wicket partnership of 105. Jordan’s contribution was 54 that included eight fours before he became Layne’s fifth victim as Headley XI recovered to 164-6.

Da Silva and Anderson Phillip added 38 for the seventh wicket before the latter lost his wicket to Kirk McKenzie for 16 and 22 with Chaim Holder, who had made 10 when he lost his wicket to Joshua Bishop.

Da Silva then scored all 35 runs in a ninth-wicket partnership with Marquino Mindley, who was eventually dismissed by Ashmead Nedd for 0 as the innings closed at 257-9.

Layne took his first first-class five-fer, finishing with figures of 5-43. Bishop took 2-98.

When play resumes on Thursday, Kirk McKenzie will continue from his overnight score of 31 while Kevlon Anderson is not out on 12. The pair are staging a recovery after Jordan had dismissed Keegan Simmonds and Teddy Bishop for ducks in his opening over.

Jordan’s two wickets have come at a cost of 15 runs from the five overs he bowled before close of play.

After five rounds of matches in the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball League, Jamaican players are dominating the elite netball league on both sides of the ball.

Many-time West Coast Fever MVP and 2022 champion Jhaniele Fowler leads all scorers with the most goals scored (280) and the most attempts (284). The towering Jamaican shooter has missed only four times since the start of the season for the unbeaten West Coast Fever.

Shimona Nelson who plays for the Collingwood Magpies is third in the standings with 217 goals and is also third in the number of attempts at 226.

Shamera Sterling of the Adelaide Thunderbirds has been just as impressive on the other side of the ball. The defender leads in the number of defensive rebounds (16) and deflections (40). She also leads in the number of Nissan Net Points (539).

Fowler lies fourth with 491.

Nissan Net Points are Suncorp Super Netball's first overarching player metric. They are a stats-based scoring system, run by Champion Data, that measures every player action on the court. Every time someone scores a goal, blocks a pass, gets a defensive rebound (and so on), they get points.

The bigger the impact, the bigger the points. If players make mistakes or cause turnovers, they lose points. At the end of the game, each player receives an individual Nissan Net Points score, which represents their contribution to the match.

Also on the defensive side, Jodi-Ann Ward of the Collingwood Magpies leads the league with 19 intercepts followed by Kadie-Ann Dehaney of Sunshine Coast Lightning with 15. Sterling is fourth with 12.

Romelda Aiken-George of New South Wales Swifts leads the league with 22 offensive rebounds while Nelson has 17 for third in the standings.

Jhanielle Fowler had another near perfect night but her West Coast Fever had to hold off a spirited comeback from the Queensland Firebirds to snatch their fifth-straight victory 73-71 in the Suncorp Super Netball League at the Nissan Arena on Saturday night.

The towering Jamaican goal shooter scored 60 of 61 shots as the defending champions outscored their opponents 25-15 and 18-15 over the first two quarters to take a 13-goal lead into the half-time break. Sasha Glasgow who was a perfect five for five and scored three of six super shots was also key to the victory as the Firebirds provided the champions with a genuine scare.

Whereas the Fever were dominant in the first half, the Firebirds showed that they too could play that game in the second.

Donnell Wallan, who scored 48 goals from 53 attempts and sunk seven of 10 super shots in the game, helped the Firebirds storm back to outscore the Fever 21-15 in the third and 25-20 in the final stanza. She got support from Emily Moore who was perfect inside the circle and who hit one of two super shots and Mia Mayer (2/2) and scored one of two super shots to come within two goals of the champions.

However, that was as close as they would get as the Fever desperately held on for the win.

Fowler has missed only four attempts on goal in five matches this season, scoring 280 goals from 284 attempts.

Meanwhile, Romelda Aiken-George scored 43 goals from 49 attempts to lead the New South Wales Swifts to a close 64-63 win over Sunshine Coast Lightning at the UniSC Arena.

Over at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Shimona Nelson scored 36 goals from 38 attempts but her Collingwood Magies lost 59-55 to GIANTS for whom Jo Harten scored 33 from 35 and Sophie Dwyer 20 from 22.

Hayley Matthews scored an magnificent hundred in an all-round performance to lead Warriors Women to victory and the title over Falcons Women in the Fairbreak Invitational Tournament in Kowloon on Sunday.

The West Indies Women’s captain was adjudged Player of the Match for her 123 and 2-14 that spurred her team to a 94-run win. Batting first, Warriors Women scored 230-4 from their 20 overs. In reply, Falcons Women could only muster 137-8.

Matthews, who was last out, smashed 11 fours and nine sixes during her knock that lasted 52 balls.

After Matthews’ dismissal in the 15^th over, Kathryn Bryce then lashed an unbeaten 52 and Captain Sindhu Sriharsha 25 in an unbroken stand of 75 that took Warriors Women to their imposing total. Price’s runs came from just 20 balls and included eight fours and two sixes.

Anju Gurung was the best of the Falcons Women bowlers taking 2-43 from her four overs.

Faced with a daunting task of scoring more than 11 runs an over, Falcons Women were steady in the chase but were always behind the required rate.

Chamari Athapaththu (29), Danni Hyatt (20), Captain Suzie Bates (25) and Theertha Satish (29), all got starts but were unable to carry on. No other batter got into double figures as Matthews and Bryce (3-16) did the damage to keep their side ahead of the game and eventually to a comprehensive victory.

Warriors Women lost only once during the tournament.

Julien Alfred took her incredible indoor form outdoors on Friday, running a world-leading 21.91 to win the College Women 200m at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida.

Alfred, the Texas Longhorn senior who ran a NCAA record 22.01, the second fastest time ever indoors to win the NCAA Indoor Nationals last month, also established a new national record in the event that was contested over two heats.

Lenae Thomas also of Texas was second overall in a wind-aided 22.30 (+3.1m/s) that won the second heat.

MacKenzie Long of Ole Miss, second in Alfred’s heat, was third overall in 22.31. Kevona Davis, who was third in Alfred’s heat ran 22.47 for fifth overall.

In the Women Olympic Development 200m, World Championship 100m bronze medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah, running her first 200m of the season, finished in second place in her heat in 23.23, a time good enough for second overall.

Melissa Jefferson of the USA, who won Thompson-Herah’s heat, was the fastest with a time of 23.02.