Former Aquinas Sprinter St. Fort Makes Impressive Pro Debut
Track and field standout Khalifa St. Fort of St. Thomas Aquinas made a lasting impression in her pro debut at the National Athletics Stadium in St. George's, Grenada.
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic hopeful who gave up her high school and college eligibility to compete professionally, won the 100-meter dash Saturday night at the CARFITA Games in Grenada.
St. Fort, 16, ran away with the Under-20 100-meter title in 11.40 seconds against a -2.7 headwind. With no wind, the time equates to 11.17.
St. Fort pulled away from the field midway through the race to finish ahead of Jamaican Patrice Moody in 11.68 and Brianne Bethel of the Bahamas in 11.75.
"It feels amazing," St. Fort told reporters after her race. St. Fort waved and threw kisses to the crowd.
"I am so happy I was able to represent Trinidad and Tobago well. There is a great field of competitors out here. I was so excited to come out here and have goals."
Her coach and two-time Trinidad and Tobago Olympian Ato Boldon decided to withdraw her from Sunday's 200 and 4x100-meter relay events when she complained of severe hip pain.
"I pulled her from the meet this morning," Boldon said. "She had hip pain overnight and couldn't warm-up this morning. Her CARIFTA 2016 is over."
Before the meet started, St. Fort was part of a press conference announcing her first major endorsement with Caribbean-based FLOW Communications. She is the first-ever brand ambassador for FLOW, a 10-year-old company.
"I make a vow today that I will represent Trinidad and Tobago well at every sports event," St. Fort said at the press conference. "I will do my best to show every young girl and boy that with help, determination, hard work and great parenting you can achieve your dreams."
Added FLOW managing director Brian Morris: "Khalifa embodies many of the positive attributes of FLOW. She is young. We consider ourselves a youthful brand. Just as we spread our wings over the past few years Khalifa is finding her stride as an athlete. You only have to look at the performance that she's put in the last year to see her improvement."
St. Fort is expected to sign a shoe contract in the near future.
Depending on her recovery from hip pain, St. Fort is expected to make her pro debut in the U.S. this weekend at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas where she will compete in the 100-meters.
The junior national champion, competing unattached this past season, has been training with Boldon for the past two years.
"I just want her to have fun," Boldon said. "This is a long way away from where she has to peak. For Khalifa, her training is peaking in July for the World Juniors and obviously August and the Olympics."
St. Fort is already compiling an impressive resume in a short amount of time. She is third fastest in the world under-18 for the 100 meters.
At the Trinidad and Tobago Carifta Games Trials, St. Fort won the girls' Under-20 titles in the 100-meters in a wind-aided 11.39 and 200-meters in 23.64. Both times are ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for 2016.
St. Fort is the 2015 World Youth silver medalist and Pan American Junior gold medalist in the 100.
Her best times are 11.19 in the 100 in 2015, which ranks eighth all-time, and 23.50 in the 200 in 2014 for under-18 athletes.
At last summer's IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing, China, she competed on the senior 4x100-meter relay that won a bronze medal.
St. Fort grew up in Miami. Her mom is Trinidadian and father an American. She started running track and field at age 13 with the Miramar Optimist Track and Field Club.
She made her international debut at the 2015 World Track and Field Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia where she competed against American Candace Hill, who had recently broken the World Youth best. St. Fort ran three personal bests in the 100 in 11.39, 11.24 and 11.19 to secure her first silver medal behind Hill. A gold medal followed at the 2015 Pan American Junior Athletic Championships in Edmonton, Canada.
Her last major outing was her senior debut at the 2015 World Track and Field Championships. She was chosen as a relay alternate and competed in the heats of the 4x100-meter relay where she was a part of a national record of 42.24 anchoring a team of Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Michelle-Lee Ahye and Reyare Thomas. She was replaced by Semoy Hackett in the final where Trinidad and Tobago brought home a bronze medal. As a heats runner, St. Fort was also awarded a bronze.