One of Saint Lucia’s star athletes is in a race against time to regain fitness for the CARIFTA Games next month in Grenada. Double CARIFTA sprint champion Jady Emmanuel is recovering from an injury sustained on Tuesday, March 10, during the opening rounds of Island Champs at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
Emmanuel, who turns 17 this year, went down in her fourth and final track event in the preliminaries of the inter-secondary school championship, the 4x100m relay. Only nine schools were registered in the Under-18 girls’ 4x100m; Choiseul Secondary needed to place in the top three in Heat 2 to confirm a spot in the final.
After getting the baton behind the pack, the speedster pulled her team into second place and was challenging for the lead when disaster struck. Choiseul did not finish.
Earlier in the meet, the Morne Paul, Laborie, native had the top time in the 200m and the second-best time in the 100m, cruising to victory in the heats of both events. She did not run the 4x400m, in which Choiseul made the final, qualifying in eighth place.
Sources close to the situation told St Lucia Times that Emmanuel, who has committed to attend the University of Texas starting in September, underwent preliminary testing on her leg after the incident. The initial diagnosis is uncertain, with estimates as to her recovery time ranging from a week to two months.
Emmanuel made history at last year’s CARIFTA Games in Trinidad & Tobago, when she won the Under-17 girls’ 100m and 200m, Saint Lucia’s first medals in those events at this level. This year, she is eligible to compete in the Under-20 division.
She has now been ruled out of the National Junior Championships, with track events scheduled for this weekend at the Soufriere Stadium, and is likely to miss the remainder of Island Champs.
