With Grenada set to host the 51st edition of the Carifta Games in 2024, athletes are already gearing up to earn their place on the national team. One young talent to watch is thirteen-year-old Anna Lisa Brown.

Brown, a form two student at the Boca Secondary School holds the distinction of being the 2023 National Under 15 Champion in the 1500m and 400m discipline. By the end of the 2023 Republic Bank Intercol Games, she had captured gold in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m while earning herself the title of Sub Junior divisional champion.

Her coach Ronald Charles, who is also the head coach at Finishline Sports Club expects the young standout to continue improving over the rest of the season, especially with the Whitsuntide Games scheduled for the May 27-28th this year.

Brown ran a personal best of 5:07.52 to capture gold at the 2023 Republic Bank Intercol Games and etch her name in the record books as the new 1500m sub junior record holder. Though she was not among the names slated to travel to the Bahamas for Carifta 2023 her performances in the season thus far suggest that she has the ability to join the team in the future.

Replicating her record-setting Inter-Col performance of 5:07.62 would have netted her a top-8 finish at Carifta 2023.

Provided that she remains healthy and trains consistently over the next year, Brown may find herself among the likes of Charmaine Hood, Christine St. Cyr, Geraldine McQueen, Sandra Scott, and Daniella Abraham who cemented Grenada’s legacy in middle-distance competition in the 1980s and 1990s.

In spite of this history of strong representation in female middle-distance running, the country has never won gold in these events at Carifta. Anna Lisa Brown may be the one to change that.