Four Saint Lucian Athletes Set to Shine at Jr. Pan American Games

Saint Lucia is proud to announce that four of its emerging young athletes will represent the island at the Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay, as confirmed by the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) Inc.

The American continent, home to over a billion people across its three sub-continents, will host 4,206 athletes from 41 member nations of Pan Am Sports for the second edition of the Junior Pan Am Games.

During a recent press briefing, Chef de Mission Monica Dudley stated that Saint Lucia’s representatives will compete in two sporting disciplines: table tennis and athletics.

The table tennis team, consisting of Manie Eleuthere and Joshua Lubin, will participate in the team event, individual singles, and doubles from August 16-22.

Manie Eleuthere, a standout student at Ciceron Secondary School (CiSS), holds the No.3 ranking overall among Saint Lucians and the No.1 ranking at the Junior level.

Joshua Lubin, a graduate of St. Mary’s College and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, ranks No.4 overall and No.2 at the Junior level. They will be guided by coach Chris Wells.

Athletics will follow with competitions from August 18-22, featuring Joy Edward and Khailan Vitalis representing Saint Lucia.

Joy, currently a student at Troy University in Alabama, is the national record holder in the ladies’ shot put, boasting a throw of 15.31 meters.

In Asuncion, she will compete in the Ladies’ shot putt. Khailan Vitalis, a former student of Entrepot Secondary School (ESS) and Kingston College in Jamaica, is set to transfer to Clemson University in the new academic year.

He currently ranks 5th in the 110 meters hurdles in the OECS and will compete in this event, coached by Terry Finisterre. Chef de Mission Monica Dudley emphasized the importance of mental preparation, noting that a sports psychologist has been engaged to work individually with each athlete in anticipation of the Games.

The SLOC is confident that the athletes will deliver exceptional performances at the championships.

SLOC President Alfred Emmanuel clarified that the competitions in which Saint Lucia will participate begin well after the August 9 opening ceremony.

Arrangements have been made by the organizers for their timely arrival at the Games.

He also reinforced the qualification process: “Standards for these Games were established not by SLOC Inc., but by the Continental Associations for the various sporting disciplines, with the approval of the Pan Am Sports executive board.”