Ishona Charles is Grenada’s first international Para athlete as the island has successfully completed its registration and licensing of its first athlete with World Para Athletics and the International Paralympics Committee.
The amputee Javelin competitor has met the standard prescribed for recognition which now makes her eligible to represent Grenada in international Para athletics championship.
Over the years, Charles has been one of the few para athletes participating in the Grenada Athletic Association National Championships and her club, the St. David Track Blazers annual games.
Among her best throws in the javelin is 27.5 Meters. She also competes in shot put and discus.
The Grenada Paralympics Committee – an affiliate of the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) says it is a historic achievement for para sport in Grenada, describing it as an incentive that should motivate and encourage other physically challenged athletes to work and perfect their talent in pursuit of competing at the highest level of international sport.
Sports Minister Norland Cox in an email to the Grenada Paralympics Committee congratulated Charles, noting that it is historic and looks forward to the further development of the para sport in Grenada.
Executive Secretary of the Grenada National Council for the Disabled, Hilary Gabriel in an email sent to the Grenada Paralympics Committee said the GNCD was delighted and hopeful about the future of para sport in the country.
Charles will travel to Arizona in the United States on May 20 to compete in her first international games, the Desert Challenge in Arizona.
She will be accompanied by her coach Paul Phillip.
Charles is also expected to become the first Grenadian para athlete to compete in the Pam American Paralympics Games in Lima, Peru in August/September.
