Khalifa Halima St. Fort (born 13 February 1998) is a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

er who competes internationally for

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. She competes in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. Born in the United States to Tamika St. Fort, a native of

San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando, is the most populous city and second most populous municipality in Trinidad and Tobago, after Chaguanas. Sando, as it is known to many local Trinidadians, occupies 19 km2 and is located in t ...

, she grew up in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

. She took up track and field at the age of thirteen, joining Miramar Optimist track and field club. While at high school she struggled to improve her sprinting and her father contacted

Ato Boldon Ato Jabari Boldon (born 30 December 1973) is a Trinidadian former track and field athlete, politician, and four-time Olympic medal winner. He holds the Trinidad and Tobago national record in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events with times of 5.64 ...

, a four-time Olympic medalist for Trinidad and Tobago, for assistance. Boldon decided to coach St. Fort and after a month she improved her best from 12.3 to 11.5 seconds, making her one of the top ranked sprinters for her age group globally. St. Fort's first international competition came at the

2015 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics, World Youth Championships in Athletics was the ninth edition of the biennial international Sport of athletics, athletics competition for Under-18 athletics, youth (under-18) athletes. The five- ...

, where the 100 m was seen as a duel between her and America's

Candace Hill Candace Kathryn Hill (born February 11, 1999) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She graduated from Rockdale County High School. She became the world's first high school woman to break the 11-sec ...

(who had recently broken the World youth best). St. Fort produced three personal bests at the competition, running 11.39, 11.24, then 11.19 seconds in the final to secure the silver medal behind Hill. A 100 m gold followed at the

2015 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships The 2015 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships, Pan American Junior Championships was the eighteenth edition of the biennial track and field competition for Under-20 athletics from the Americas, organised by the Association of Panamerican Athle ...

in the absence of Hill. Her last major outing of the year was a senior debut at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

. She was chosen as the relay alternate and competed in the heats of the 4×100 metres relay, where she broke the Trinidad and Tobago national record with a time of 42.24 seconds, anchoring a team of

Kelly-Ann Baptiste Kelly-Ann Kaylene Baptiste (born 14 October 1986) is a Tobagonian track and field sprint athlete. Junior Competing at the international level for the first time, Kelly-Ann bowed out in the semi-finals of the World Junior Championships in Athl ...

Michelle-Lee Ahye Michelle-Lee Raquel Ahye (pronounced ''ah-ee'') (born 10 April 1992) is a Trinidadian sprinter. She was the gold medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the women's 100 metres. She was part of Trinidad and Tobago's squad that finished fourth ...

and

Reyare Thomas Reyare Thomas (born 23 November 1987) is a Trinidadian Sprint (running), sprinter. She competed at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, 2015 World Championships in Beijing winning the bronze in the 4 × 100 metres relay and reaching the sem ...

. In the final, she was replaced by

Semoy Hackett Semoy Kee-Ann Hackett (born 27 November 1988) is a Tobagonian track and field sprint athlete who competed collegiately at Louisiana State University. Her personal best in the 100 m is 11.09, and 22.49 in 200 m. Hackett represented Trinidad and ...

and the team improved the record further in their bronze medal-winning run. The 17-year-old St. Fort received a bronze medal as the heats runner.Khalifa St. Fort Returns From the IAAF World Championships with Bronze 2015
Dyestatfl (1 September 2015). Retrieved on 2015-09-19.

Personal best

International competitions

¹Was not selected to run in the final where her team won the bronze

References

External links