PRESS RELEASE
The Dominica Olympic Committee (DOC) proudly presents four (4) athletes who will be
representing the Commonwealth of Dominica at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Dominica’s team of athletes, consisting of two males and two females, mirrors the gender
balance that will be achieved at Paris 2024 as for the first time in history, Paris 2024 will have an equal number of men and women competing and will represent the first time in 24 years that Dominica has competed in another sport besides Athletics at the Olympic Games.
The following short biographies highlight the athletes and the composition of the officials.
ATHLETICS Thea Lafond Gadson Mrs. Thea Lafond Gadson, who hails from the community of Mahaut and is based in the USA, will be competing in the female Triple Jump. Mrs. Lafond Gadson is Dominica’s first Indoor World Champion and has also qualified for two World Championships and Two World Indoor Championships. Additionally, she has won Commonwealth Games Bronze & Silver medals, a Pan-American Bronze medal, and several other awards, proving herself to be a true podium contender for Paris 2024. Mrs Lafond Gadson qualified for Paris 2024 by meeting the entry standard.
In March 2024 she achieved a personal best of 15.01 meters at the 2024 Indoor World Championships which surpassed the qualification standard of 14.55m. Since the opening of the Athletics Qualification period which ran from 2023 – 2024 Mrs. Lafond Gadson surpassed the entry standard on eight (8) occasions and is currently ranked 4th in the
world. This shall be Mrs. Lafond Gadson’s 3rd consecutive Olympic Games and she is also a
holder of a Paris 2024 Olympic Scholarship funded by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) and facilitated by the DOC.
Dennick Luke
Mr. Dennick Luke, who hails from Portsmouth, is currently completing his tertiary education in Jamaica. Mr. Luke secured a universality placement in the discipline of 800m. Despite not
achieving the qualification mark, the IOC Games regulations, support the development of
participation of all National Olympic Committees, allow for the placement of at least one
Athletics athletes in each gender if none can achieve the qualification mark which is
referred to as the Universality Placement. After a lengthy process conducted by the DOC and the Dominica Amateur Athletics Association, guided by the rules of the World Athletics
Organization and Paris 2024, which limited the universality placement for 800m to only three (3) persons worldwide per gender, Mr. Luke was successful in his application. Since the opening of the Athletics Qualification period which ran from 2023 – 2024, Mr. Luke achieved two (2) personal bests, with the most recent being in June 2024 with a mark of 1:47.36 which is also a National Record. This shall be Mr. Luke’s 2nd consecutive Olympic Games and he is also a holder of a Paris 2024 Olympic Scholarship funded by the IOC and facilitated by the DOC.
SWIMMING
Warren Lawrence
Mr. Warren Lawrence, who resides in Switzerland, will be making his Olympic debut and is
Dominica’s first male swimmer since 2000. Mr. Lawrence secured a universality placement
in the 50m freestyle. Despite not achieving the qualification mark, the IOC regulations, which support the development of participation of all National Olympic Committees, allow for the placement of at least one Swimming athlete in each gender if none can achieve the
qualification mark once select requirements are met, which is referred to as the Universality Placement. Mr. Lawrence competed in the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in the 50m freestyle where he achieved his personal best of 24.51 which is also a National Record. Mr. Warren Lawrence is the son of Dominica Olympian, Woodrow “Woody” Lawrence who also competed in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games in the 50m freestyle.
Warren lived most of his life in Dominica and attended school from early childhood, including the Sheba Care and Riverbank preschools then moved on to the Pioneer Preparatory and later St. Lukes Primary Schools.
He attended his early days of high school at the Community High and then transferred over to the Saint Mary’s Academy. Warren participated actively in swimming with Dr. Jenny Allport-Williams and his first coach was Shaminey Walsh-Dupuis, who is also the current Secretary of the Dominica Swimming Association. He was also a member of the Dominica Fencing Association and participated in several local training and tournaments.
In 2017 after Hurricane Maria, Warren and his mother returned to Switzerland. In 2018, Warren joined the Kreuzlingen Swim Club and has developed into an elite-level swimmer competing at various Swiss and European level competitions and championships.
Jasmine Schofield
Ms. Jasmine Schofield, who resides in the USA and returns to Dominica consistently, will be
making her Olympic debut as Dominica’s first female swimmer since 2000. Ms. Schofield
secured a universality placement in the 50m freestyle. Despite not achieving the qualification mark, the IOC Games regulations, which support the development of participation of all National Olympic Committees, allow for the placement of at least one Swimming athlete in each gender if none can achieve the qualification mark once select requirements are met, which is referred to as the Universality Placement. Ms Schofield recently competed in the 2024 36th CCCAN Championships in Mexico and swam a new personal best and National record of 30.26 seconds in the 50m freestyle, breaking the time of 30.60 she swam in Doha at the World Championships in February. Additionally, Ms. Schofield has recently been awarded a World Aquatics scholarship and will be training at the Thanyapura Training Center in Thailand starting in September. Ms. Jasmine Schofield is the daughter of Dominica Olympian Francilia Agar Schofield, who also competed in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in the 50m freestyle.
GENERAL TEAM OFFICIALS
The Dominica team will be led by Chef de Mission Mr. Woodrow Lawrence, supported by Team Leader, Mr. Brendan Wiliams and Olympic Attache, Shelly-Ann Meade. They will be
accompanied by: Athletics Coach, Aaron Gadson; Swimming Coach, Gino Deflorian;
Francilia Agar Schofield, Swimming Coach for the Panam Mulhouse Camp; Press Attaché,
Garvin Richards and Physiotherapist, Kala Flagg. Mr. Billy Doctrove, President of the DOC, and Mrs. Fenella Wenham Sheppard, Secretary General of the DOC, will complete the team.
The DOC would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the four aforementioned athletes and extend our full support to them in Paris 2024. We would like to assure Dominica’s athletes that not only the DOC, but the entire country, will be supporting you as you step onto the International Sporting stage.
The DOC would also like to thank Panam Sports for making it possible for the athletes and
coach to attend a Pre-Games Training Camp to assist in acclimatization and to further bolster their final preparations. This training camp will be held in Mulhouse, France, and will cater to countries from the Panam region in over twenty (20) sports including Swimming. Ms. Jasmine Schofield, accompanied by Coach Francilia Agar Schofield, will be participating in this camp.
GAMES BACKGROUND
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will commence with an Opening Ceremony on 26th July and officially end on 11th August 2024. Paris is the main host city, with select events held in surrounding cities in France. The Games will feature 329 events in 32 sports with 206 nations participating with 10,672 athletes.