Julien Alfred remains the gold standard, literally, in Saint Lucian sport. The country’s lone Olympic medallist and reigning 2024 100m champion added another unprecedented feat this year, claiming bronze at the World Championships in Tokyo.
At 24, she is firmly established as a global star. But in her wake, a new wave of Saint Lucian athletes has begun carving out their own space in 2025, both at home and abroad.
This list of up-and-comers won’t include familiar names like Antoine Destang, Deandre Calderon and Naomi London. Instead, these 10 up-and-comers truly emerged as forces to be reckoned with at various levels over the last 12 months.
At the 52nd CARIFTA Games in Trinidad & Tobago, a smiling assassin from the picturesque community of Morne Laborie became Saint Lucia’s first-ever double sprint champion. Jady Emmanuel, a 16-year-old Choiseul Secondary School student, took gold in the Under-17 girls’ 100m in 11.50 seconds, and the 200 metres in 23.47 seconds, the fastest time ever by a Saint Lucian Under-18 athlete. She will be moving up to the Under-20 division in 2026, where competition will be stiffer.
Also in the Land of the Hummingbird, Sapphire Parks had a memorable debut at the CARIFTA Aquatics Championships. The youngest member of Team Saint Lucia at 12, the St Joseph’s Convent student won four gold medals, including a final night win in the 11-12 girls’ 200m backstroke. Her eight-medal haul (4 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) earned her the high point trophy in her division, with the rising star already setting her sights on the 2026 edition in Martinique.
Ackeem Auguste played a bit part role for the Saint Lucia Kings in 2024, when the franchise won its maiden Caribbean Premier League title. This season, however, the 22-year-old stepped up big time, compiling 229 runs, the third-most for the Kings. That performance earned him a call-up to the West Indies T20 International and One Day International teams. He has 13 international matches under his belt, plus a half-century against Bangladesh, and he has been backed for bigger things in the future.
Even if you left out Megan Nestor‘s 30-30 game, she would still belong on this list. The 6-4 University of North Texas pivot became just the third NCAA Division I athlete since 1981 to put together 30 points and 30 rebounds. But she transferred to the Mean Green after setting school and conference rebounding records for the Flying Queens of Wayland Baptist University, and immediately took command of the boards after transferring to UNT, which the Canaries native hopes will be the launching pad for her professional career.
Also expected to make a career out of sport is Donavan Phillip, the leading scorer in NCAA Division I men’s football this season for North Carolina State. He has already dipped his toe into the semi-pro ranks with Flint City Bucks, and he was taken by Colorado Rapids in the 2024 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. His decision as to whether to return to school next year or become a full-fledged pro will be a tough one, but he is poised for success either way.
Ava Fevrier doesn’t necessarily fit the common perception of a “new” athlete. She is, after all, a 41-year-old mom. But Fevrier only began running in 2022, and three years into her running journey, she is setting national records for road running. Born in Dennery, but living in New York for nearly 30 years, Fevrier holds a half-dozen national records, including the half-marathon and marathon. She also curates a WhatsApp group for Saint Lucian runners and plans to run her sixth major in 2026.
Vieux Fort native and Anse La Raye resident Shatal Charles has exploded onto the table tennis scene in 2025. The diminutive starlet was a Caribbean Under-13 champion, so having her on the list bends the rules. But this year, the 15-year-old dominated local table tennis, swept club competition in Grenada, took the silver medal at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Championships, and made it to the knockout rounds of the Caribbean Youth Championships.
Saint Lucia hosted the 52nd IFBB Central American and Caribbean Championship in 2025, and Shani Victorin was the local standout. She flexed her way to gold medals in the women’s fit model and bikini fitness 172-centimetre categories. That earned her a pro card, allowing her to compete internationally as an IFBB professional. She is just the second Saint Lucian woman with a pro card, following Marina Pierre in 2016.
Boxing produced a pair of gems this year in John Didier and Alex Nachan. Regrettably, Cuban-born Nachan is yet to secure citizenship, but he and Didier took gold at the Caribbean Championships in Saint Lucia this year. Didier, a 19-year-old light heavyweight from Vieux Fort, went on to further regional and international success. He was the most outstanding elite boxer at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Championships, and became the first Saint Lucian to advance past the opening rounds of an international event, when he won his first-round bout at the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Dubai.
The final pick represents Saint Lucia and the Caribbean Queens in rugby. But Makeba Alcide is best known as a former track and field athlete and national record holder for women’s heptathlon. She is rapidly carving her niche as a coach and administrator, an executive member of the Saint Lucia Athletics Association, and a leader in athlete empowerment as president of the Athletes Commission.
