The long-anticipated return of rising Saint Lucian track star Naomi London produced a brilliant result on Saturday at Mike Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, as the 18-year-old set a new Saint Lucia national junior record for the women’s 100m. Running against professional athletes at the Texas Relays, the Vieux Fort native turned in a time of 11.23 seconds at the 97th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, second in Heat 2, and an impressive fifth overall.
Yet to hit the tracks for the University of Texas, two-time CARIFTA silver medallist London has nonetheless been putting in the work with coach Edrick Floreal and his training group, including world champions Julien Alfred and Dina Asher-Smith. It was Alfred’s national record that the teen sensation broke. Saint Lucia’s Olympic champion had run 11.39 seconds with a wind of 0.7 metres per second in April 2019 at the age of 17 years and 320 days. London, known as The Sprint Princess, turned 18 in mid-March. She benefitted from a wind of 1.9 m/s.
As she ramps up for a title chase at CARIFTA, London also became the second-fastest teenager on the planet for 2025, surpassing the 11.26 run by Brianna Selby of the USA last weekend.
Additionally, her run was just outside the all-time top 100 for Under-20 women. On that list, however, are Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands and Sabrina Dockery of Jamaica. Both are among her likely gold medal rivals at the regional meet in Trinidad & Tobago over the Easter weekend, and Dockery ran 11.08 over the distance earlier this week to win at Boys and Girls Champs for Lacovia High.
Regardless of the outcomes next month in Port of Spain, London is off to a fine start as she seeks to keep the Saint Lucia flag flying high.
