GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - Former Maryland Track and Field star Thea Lafond won triple jump crown at World Athletics Indoor Championships this past weekend in Glasgow, securing her first ever global medal on indoor track and field's biggest stage.
Lafond, who graduated from Maryland in 2015, surpassed the 15 meter mark for the first time in her career, leaping to a new personal best and world-leading 15.01m. She also became the first female athlete from her home country of Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean with a population of just over 70,000 people, to win a global medal, and the country's first ever global champion in any athletic discipline.
Before beginning her professional career, Lafond earned multiple All-American honors at Maryland, including placing in the top-ten in both the women's high jump and triple jump at NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2013. In the indoor season in 2013, Lafond was named the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year. During her senior season in 2015, Lafond was named the Big Ten's Field Athlete of the Year.
Lafond, who grew up in Silver Spring, still holds multiple top-five all-time marks at Maryland, including the school record in the outdoor triple jump, the second best all-time finish in the indoor triple jump and indoor 60H and the, the third best indoor high jump mark, and the fourth best indoor long jump mark.
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