Olympian Shafiqua Maloney arrives in St Vincent; welcome ceremony to be held in Oct

St Vincent: Olympian Shafiqua Maloney touched down in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Wednesday after reaching Olympic finals and finishing fourth place. She was welcomed at Argyle International Airport with a grand ceremony and dance performances as locals gathered to honour her for her performance. 

Maloney represented St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Women’s 800m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She created history by becoming the first athlete from the country to compete in the Olympic finals in the event. 

Besides this, she was also the first English-speaking Caribbean national who competed in the finals of the women’s 800m in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. After receiving a warm welcome at the airport, Maloney participated in a series of events and met her family members. 

She was also greeted by Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines- Ralph Gonsalves who encouraged her with his remarks in a press conference. Several government officials including Minister of Housing- Robert Cato, CEO of ECGC- Latoya George, Divisional Manager of Coreas Distribution- Shakeila Vera were also present at the welcome ceremony. 

The family members of Maloney were also greeted by the government officials with warm greetings and regards. Her mother- Jessica Maloney got emotional during the meeting as she had not seen her daughter in eight years. 

The emotional reunion had made everyone emotional and excited with the welcome ceremony. Besides this, the citizen also gathered and danced on the musical beats of St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

In addition to that, the motorcade rally was also hosted from Argyle International Airport to the capital Kingstown. The rally was organized to honour her achievement and make her meet the citizens in St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

The official homecoming ceremony for Maloney will be held on Wednesday where she will be accompanied by the dignitaries on the inaugural JetBlue flight. The flight will kickstart the service between New York and St Vincent and the Grenadines.