Spotlight on Antiguan Sports Stars

Joella Lloyd - Olympic Athlete

Joella Lloyd is a 19 year old senior student at the University of Tennessee where she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She currently holds the National Junior and Senior 100m Record and UT's 60m record.

"Track has been the center of my life since I was 8 years old, and I'm being inspired to continue in this field everyday. My primary school coach Mr. Jamille Nelson first introduced me to the sport and explained the opportunities that lie within it." said Joella.

Joella started track and field while attending the St. John's Catholic primary School and continued training at the Antigua Girls' High School where she competed in local and regional track and field championships. Joella was offered a full scholarship to the University of Tennessee where she currently trains and represents the school. Due to a successful collegiate season, Joella was allowed the opportunity to represent Antigua at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

"I was extremely excited when I found out that I was going to be a part of the Olympics. I sent the email to my parents, my friends, and my coach. My initial reaction was silent screams while I was doing my workout for the day." Joella stated after being asked about her reaction when she first found out she was going to the Olympics. Joella also stated that she loved Tokyo, the people, the advanced infrastructure and also the culture. It was mind blowing being around so many elite athletes and stepping out onto the track in front of the world.

We asked Joella what was the biggest obstacle she faced while pursuing track and field. And she stated "The biggest obstacle I've faced was the death of my sister. It has had a huge impact on me on and off the track. I was able to get back into training months after she died when my coach contacted me and advised me to not give up on track and to run in her memory."

Joella advises young people to keep working hard even when they face challenging situations and also when they don't see the results of their training right away because hard work and determination can go a long way especially in Track and Field.

Dale Anthony Jones - Retired middle-distance runner

by Graham Hedley

Dale Jones is a retired middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. He represented Antigua & Barbuda from 1983, at the CARIFTA Under-20 games (for countries in the Caribbean Free Trade Association) and the Pan-American Games in Caracas, to 1998 (the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur).

He won medals at the CARIFTA Games in 1983 (silver in the 800m and 1500m meters), the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games (silver in the 800m) and the same event ten years later (bronze in the 800m). He set national records in the 800m (1 min 48.62 secs at the 1991 World Championships) and the 1500m (3 min 49.41 secs at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988).

Dale Jones suffered a stroke in February 2017, and subsequently received a pension of $1,000 a month to cover some of his expenses, as well as a gift of $10,000 from the Antigua & Barbuda government.

The Sports Minister said in Parliament: “Mr Dale Jones [is] one of our outstanding athletes in the past and I know there was a fundraising initiative over the weekend, led by Mr Joseph Apponcia and his team, to raise some funds for Mr Dale Jones who suffered a stroke and who is not doing well. We cannot allow those on whose shoulders we stand to suffer silently and live a life that is not befitting of the contribution they have made to this country”.