We decided to share this article with readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among the Bahamian diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean. The Nassau Guardian published this article by Sheldon Longley on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. The article can be found here.
Sheldon Longley
Guardian Sports Editor
slongley@nasguard.com
Three-time world indoor champion and world record holder Devynne Charlton has returned home.
The Bahamian track and field legend touched down at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and was greeted to a warm reception inside the VIP section of the International Arrivals Terminal of LPIA, celebrating her and Team Bahamas for once again topping the world at the world indoor championships.
The 21st World Athletics Indoor Championships wrapped up on Sunday inside the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland.
Charlton is the only three-time winner in the women’s 60 meters (m) hurdles and she did it three times consecutively from 2024 to 2026, setting world records along the way. She won in Glasgow, Scotland, in a world record time of 7.65 seconds, duplicated that gold medal winning performance in 2025 in Nanjing, China, in 7.72 seconds, and then matched her world record time of 7.65 seconds in the final in Toruń, Poland, on Sunday.
She is the undisputed greatest female sprint hurdler of all-time indoors, and now the question remains, will she go after four in a row in two years time in Bhubaneswar, India, as the world indoors move back to a biennial event. Charlton is just taking each title, and each moment, one day at a time, and is primed to continue a legacy that is unmatched in Bahamian sports history.
“I just want to say how much I appreciate everyone for showing up and continuing to show me support,” said Charlton. “I like to take things away from every meet, every season, and this one was about managing chaos, controlling my emotions, and just being able to execute under pressure,” she added.
The world title and world record didn’t come without challenges along the way. Charlton said she experienced slight pain in her knee during the rounds, and had to overcome a stumble at the start of the final to come out on top. She came through the champion that she is, matching the single best performance ever in that event.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg was on hand to welcome the three-time world indoor champion and congratulated her for rising above the rest again.
“I’ll use a quote from Michael Jordan who says ‘when you become a champion, people say the first time is luck, when you do it a second time, they start to take you serious, and when you do it a third time, they know you’re for real and a true champion’. Devynne has separated herself in this event in the world, proving not one, not twice, but three times that she is the best, and she did it while setting a world record. On behalf of the prime minister and the Government of The Bahamas, and the people of The Bahamas, we congratulate you on a job well done and we’re proud of you. You continue to make all of us proud and we say welcome back home,” said the minister.
Mike Sands, the Bahamian president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC), was on hand to witness the event.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of the performances from the athletes in this region, but more specifically, in Devynne’s performance,” said Sands. “Devynne has kept The Bahamas on the world stage, and I believe that we will continue to perform above our weight class. Congratulations to Devynne. I also have to say the family behind the scenes have brought Devynne a mighty long way. She is where she is today because of her parents Dave and Laura and her tremendous support staff, and we have to recognize them for always being there for her. Congratulations Devynne, and we look forward to many more success stories in the future.”
Charlton got better through the rounds of the women’s 60m hurdles, winning her first round heat in 7.82 seconds, taking her semifinal heat in 7.74 seconds, and blazing to the world record tying time in the final. All three races were ran on Sunday, as there were three races in one day.
“… you have to know how to manage your energy system and just figure out how to survive and advance,” said Charlton. “It’s a testament to the preparation I put in with my coaches, as well as having a support system behind me and encouraging me along the way. Knowing that I have whole country behind me and supporting me means a lot.”
Charlton is coached by Bahamian Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Green at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
Prior to winning three in a row, Charlton won the silver medal in the women’s 60m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships, and was eighth in 2018 as there was no event held in 2022 due to COVID-19. So, in essence, she has made the final of the women’s 60m hurdles at the world indoors five straight times, and at just 30 years old, she is showing no signs of slowing down.
In total, The Bahamas had three female sprint hurdlers in the top nine in the world this year, and two in the final for the second time in three years.
Denisha Cartwright finished tied for seventh in the final in 7.90 seconds, matching the season’s best time she ran in the semifinals. She ran 7.96 seconds in the heats.
The third Bahamian in the women’s 60m hurdles, Charisma Taylor, bowed out in the semifinals. Taylor finished fourth in her semifinal heat, tying a personal best time of 7.91 seconds. She finished ninth overall, missing the final by one, one hundredth of a second. In her opening round heat, she ran 7.97 seconds.
The Bahamas was the only nation with two athletes in the women’s 60m hurdles final.
Taylor also competed in the women’s triple jump and finished 14th overall with a best leap of 13.11m (43’ 0-1/4”). She scratched her first two attempts, and leapt 13.11m on the third attempt.
In the men’s heptathlon, Kendrick Thompson finished 10th overall with 5,776 points, in an event in which Simon Ehammer, of Switzerland, set a new world record of 6,670 points for the gold medal.
The other member of Team Bahamas, Tajh Brown, competed in the men’s 60m hurdles.
Brown didn’t get out of the first round, finishing eighth in his heat, and 45th overall, in 8.30 seconds.
The Bahamas finished tied for 15th in the medal standings at the world indoors with Charlton’s gold medal, and in a four-way tie for 22nd on the placing chart.
In addition to being a three-time world indoor champion, and world record holder indoors, Charlton is the national record holder outdoors and has advanced to a senior global final five times with her best finish being a fourth place spot in the women’s 100m hurdles at the 19th World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023.
“I feel like I could replicate my success indoors outdoors, but it’s going to take a whole lot of work, and from this point, a lot is going to be dedicated to that,” she said. “I’m prepared to put in the work and pour my attention into the outdoors and we’ll see what happens.”
Charlton has experienced significant success, but it didn’t come without some injuries and hardships along the way. Drumeco Archer, president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA), praised her for resilience and championing the cause, rising to the forefront time after time again.
“There are many joys in your career, but much sadness, and I remember thinking that you could never run the hurdles again because you had suffered a broken back. While there is joy in winning, there is agony in this pathway to success, and I think that story must be told, and not only told in the Bahamian contect, but in the global context,” said Archer. “You represent inspiration, and the idea of believing in only a way that a story could tell, and I believe that we really should make a pitch to Disney. Beyond that, when we consider what you have done, you are nothing short of amazing. On behalf of the BAAA, we congratulate you and we want to say how proud we are of you. We will continue to support you and we look forward to many more successess in the future.”
With the stunning win on Sunday, Charlton became the only person ever to win three straight world indoor titles in the women’s 60m hurdles, breaking a tie she had shared with Americans Lolo Jones and Nia Ali.
She is certainly in a class by herself.