Vincy athlete who was homeless in US makes 800m Olympic finals

Shafiqua Maloney, the 25-year-old US-based Vincentian athlete who, in February, spoke to a Jamaica-based television station about her struggles to buy food and pay her rent in the United States, has created history for St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Paris Olympics.

Maloney, who is originally from Richland Park, fought her way into the 800m finals, becoming the first Vincentian to make it to the finals of an Olympic event.

Additionally, Maloney set a new national record when she clocked 1:57.59.

She will run in the finals today (Monday) at 3:47 p.m. local time and a number of watch parties have been announced, including at Heritage Square in Kingstown and at the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex.

Maloney has the fourth-fastest time going into the finals and carries with her the hopes and dreams of the country, which is now the only of the four Windward Islands that has not won an Olympic medal.

St. Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred, 23, is now the “fastest woman in the world” after bagging gold in the Olympic women’s 100m in 10.72 seconds on Saturday, outdoing the US’s reigning 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who took silver in 10.87sec.

Also on Saturday, Dominica’s Thea LaFond made history for her country, winning gold in the triple jump to claim the country’s first-ever Olympic medal.

Grenada won its first Olympic medal 12 years ago, in 2012, when Kerani James won the 400m. Meanwhile, Maloney’s outstanding run on Saturday pits her against heat winner Tsige Duguma, of Ethiopia, who ran a personal best of 1:57.47.

The other finalists are  Juliette Whittaker, of the USA, who won a personal best of 1:57.76; Renelle Lamote, of France — 1:57.78; Mary Moraa of Kenya — 1:57.86;  Worknesh Mesele of Ethiopia — 1:58.06; and, Keely Hodgkinson, of Great Britain — 1:57.57.

In February, Maloney told SportsMax that she had been homeless for several months over the last year and had not paid her coaches for years.

At the same time, she said that the national athletics group in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) had said that it had no money to help her to pursue her dreams.

“I’ve been homeless for like couple of months. … especially last year, I was bouncing around from home to home. Right now, I live in like a dorm situation. So, I’m happy for these people who allow me to stay here right now. But it’s been hard,” she said, referring to the University of Arkansas.

She said that she was largely supported by her parents, including her mother, who works on a cruise ship and also had to take care of two younger children with her meagre earnings.

Shortly after the interview, the East Caribbean Group of Companies through its Island Sipz Water brand, announced an endorsement agreement for two years, with the potential value in this Olympic year at $EC125,000 (EC$1=US$0.37).

Maloney received a fully guaranteed $60,000 from ECGC towards her Paris 2024 Olympic preparation, the company said.  

In March, Coreas, comprising Coreas Hazells Inc. and its subsidiaries and Coreas Distribution Ltd., announced a strategic partnership with Maloney that involves the investment of EC$54,000 to support her journey to the 2024 Olympics.