Although T&T’s first notable participation in the Summer Olympics was in 1948 in the London Olympics, it wasn’t until 1972 that this country had a female athlete participating in the games.
Laura Pierre, T&T’s first female Olympian, was just 16 when she competed at the 1972 Munich Games in the women’s 200 metres, blazing a trial for the scores of women who have represented the red, white and black in the years since then.
At the 2024 Games, currently taking place in Paris, France, T&T’s 17-member team includes seven women who will be competing in track and field and swimming.
Here’s a look at four of T&T’s female Olympians
Michelle-Lee Ahye
T&T’s most successful female Olympian competes in her fourth Olympic Games, representing Trinidad and Tobago in the 100m and the 4x100 relay at Paris 2024.
She delivered her best performances at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 where she reached the 100m and 200m finals. Ahye finished sixth in both championship races. In the 200 semis, she had the satisfaction of producing a 22.25-second national record run.
Cleopatra Borel
The Mayaro-born shot putter represented T&T at the Olympics in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. At the 2012 London games, she threw 18.36 m. She was a finalist in the shot put in 2016, finishing seventh with a throw of 18.37 m.
Teniel Campbell
The cyclist was the first woman from the English-speaking Caribbean to compete in that discipline at an Olympic Games when she represented T&T in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020.
Gabriella Wood
TT’s first female judoka to qualify for the Games and the nation’s second athlete to achieve the feat in this discipline competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, in the 78 kg class.
