Grenada’s Kirani James reacts after winning his heat in the
Men’s 400 Metres at the World Athletics Championships,
Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar on Oct. 1, 2019.
REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonAthletics/File
Caribbean Life, JULY 30-AUG. 5, 2021 27
By Nelson A. King
Grenada’s star Olympian and
former Alabama track star Kirani
James has sets high expectations
for the Tokyo Olympics.
According to the Tuscaloosa
News, James, 28, has been
making history since he was a
teenager.
“This summer, James will
have the chance to prove that
he is as strong as ever following
a comeback from an autoimmune
condition,” said the News
on Monday, noting that, when
James took home the gold in
the 400 meters at the 2012 London
Olympics, “he was immediately
granted legend status in
the small Caribbean island he
calls home.
“The victory made him Grenada’s
first and only Olympic
medalist, a title he still holds
today after winning a silver in
Rio in 2016 as well,” it added.
James’s gold-medal time in
London was 43.94 seconds,
becoming the first runner from
outside of the United States to
break the 44-second mark.
“It was clear from a young age
that James had what it takes to
compete at the highest level. As
a teenager, James quickly separated
himself from the crowd,
running a 46.96 in the 400 to
clock the fastest time ever by a
14-year-old for that event.
The Tuscaloosa News said
James’s success as a runner only
grew as he won gold medals at
the CARIFTA Games and the
Commonwealth Youth Games,
along with silver medals in the
400 at the 2007 World Youth
and 2008 World Junior Championships.
The next year, James made
history as the first athlete to
run a 200/400 double at the
2009 World Youth Championships,
the News said.
In addition, it said James
reigned as the 2010 World Junior
Champion.
“However, just a year after an
impressive performance at his
second Olympic Games, James
felt off; he ran the slowest time
in a final since he was 16 at the
2017 Drake Relays and took a
long time to recover,” said the
News, stating that James was
soon diagnosed with Graves disease
– an autoimmune disorder
that leads to a hyperactive thyroid
– “and was forced to take
more than a year off.”
While recovering, the News
said James lost 20 pounds
“before he found the right medication
to help him manage the
condition.”
It said the Olympian made
his comeback about 14 months
later with a win at the Racers
Grand Prix in Jamaica.
“Now, back at full strength,
he is ready to compete on the
global stage once again,” said
the News, noting that, after
becoming Grenada’s first Olympic
medalist, James received
two huge honors from his home
country.
He was named Grenada’s
2012 Male Sportsman of the
Year and was also honored with
the renaming of a road after
him, the News said.
It said that, in January,
Kirani James Boulevard was
revealed in Grenada’s capital, St
George’s.
“Through it all, James has
proved his longevity as a star
sprinter,” the News said. “He
is one of just nine athletes to
win world championships at the
youth, junior and senior level of
an athletic event.”
To add to James’s long lists
of “firsts,” the former Alabama
student was the first 400 runner
ever to win world titles at
the U18, U20, world championships
and Olympic Games, the
News said.
Grenada’s Olympian Kirani
James sets high expectations