Two BVI Track Athletes Head to Olympics
Star BVI athlete Kyron McMaster will be representing the BVI at the Paris Olympics this summer in the 400-meter hurdles. Joining him will be 100m BVI sprinter Rikkoi Brathwaite. Thad Lettsome will represent the BVI in sailing.
Kyron McMaster
As the reigning Commonwealth Games Hurdles Champion, Kyron has been proving his athletic prowess at multiple world events over the past few years.Among his notable achievements, Kyron was the BVI’s first male athlete to advance to the finals of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 400-meter hurdles where he notably came in fourth place. It was an impressive feat for a young man from a small Caribbean island competing against the world’s top athletes.
Keeping up the pace, Mc Master came in second with a time of 49 seconds when he opened his track season at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational on May 11.
In the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England, McMaster snagged gold in the 400-meter hurdles –a proud day for the Territory.
He also made news in world athletic circles, when he netted silver after beating Norwegian world record holder, Karsten Warholm, in the 400-metre hurdles at the Zurich Diamond League in August 2023. Up until then, Warholm, had been undefeated. In a nail-biting photo finish, McMaster clocked a time of 47.27 with Warholm finishing at 47.30.
McMaster, at a post-race interview stated, “I got out of my head completely. If I was stuck in my head, I knew I would have fumbled . . .” McMaster went on to say. “you know what, I’m going to take this in my phases like I’ve been doing all season’.”
The 27-year-old BVI athlete attended the Ebeneezer Thomas Primary School in Sea Cows Bay on Tortola and the BVI’s Elmore Stoutt High School in Road Town. McMaster attended Central Arizona College where he ran the 400-meter hurdles but struggled with injuries and decided to return to the BVI. He continued his training with his previous coach Daag Samuels. Samuels unexpectedly died following Hurricane Irma in September 2017 which devastated the islands and McMaster. The tragedy did not slow McMaster down, though, who continued with his training and athletic schedule.
McMaster continued to garner an impressive array of medals. At the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, McMaster completed a silver medal finish for the BVI coming in at 47.34. This was the first ever medal for the British Virgin Islands at this championship event.
McMaster also won the British Virgin Islands’ first ever gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 400-meter hurdles in 2018 and followed up with another gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the same event.
In an interview with Steve Landells for the IAAF https://worldathletics.org/news/series/kyron-mcmaster-400m-hurdles-london McMaster said that without the distractions and stress of college life, he ‘focused more on training and got into better shape. My speed improved and in my first 400m hurdles race of the 2017 season at the Florida Relays I set a national record of 48.71 (taking 0.85 from his personal best). The time did not surprise me because my coach believed I could run that quickly, but I was surprised I achieved it in my opening race of the season.”
Other first place finishes have included the Central American and Caribbean Games in Baranquilla, Colombia and the NCAC Championships in Toronto, Canada.
Training for the Olympics remains Kyron’s prime goal. In the meantime, this lightning fast and dedicated young British Virgin Islander, continues to take his success in stride.
Enthusiastic and firmly committed, Kyron plans to stay on track for continuing success at the Paris Olympics and beyond.
Honoring this and other prestigious sports achievements – along with his work with BVI youth in sports on the local level – Kyron was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from King Charles last December.
Rikkoi Brathwaite
Rikkoi Brathwaite, another up and coming BVI athlete, is a sprinter from the British Virgin Islands who is a national champion and national record holder over 100 metres.[1]
Brathwaite ran for the University of Indiana and finished second at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships over 60 meters running a personal best time of 6.52 seconds in Birmingham, Alabama.[2]
He set a new British Virgins Islands national record of 10.09 seconds for the 100 metres in early August 2023 in Tennessee, and competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest where he ran 10.18 seconds for the 100 metres.
Brathwaite kept up the pace reaching the semi-finals of the 60 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March 2024.
He lowered his 100 metres personal best in Clermont, Florida to 10.03 seconds in April 2024, and made his Diamond League debut at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic in the 100 meters in Eugene, Oregon, finishing sixth in 10.19 seconds.
More on Kyron McMasters can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Commonwealth_Games
Read about Thad Lettsome who is also competing in the Paris Olympics at:
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