Longevity, honours and growing the sport in Grenada
It’s incredibly rare, especially in such an explosive and physically demanding event, to see an athlete remain at the top of the international scene for almost two decades. And yet, James has found a way to do just that.
After earning his first international victory in the boys’ 400m at the 2007 U17 CARIFTA Games, James really began to turn heads after becoming the first athlete to win both the 200m and 400m at a single edition of athletics’ World Youth Championships in 2009.
Having beaten Usain Bolt’s 400m meet record at the U20 CARIFTA Games that season, the hype surrounding James grew intense – as did the comparisons to the multiple Olympic champion. But he never let the weight of those expectations slow him down.
In fact, he thrived in the spotlight. Winning the men’s 400m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as an 18-year-old, he became the youngest ever world champion over one lap and the first world champion from Grenada. A year later, history was made in London.
Twelve years on from his historic outing in the British capital, he finished fifth in the men’s 400m at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 – a feat he followed up by claiming the North American, Central American and Caribbean title the following season.
He also made it as far as the semi-finals in the men’s 400m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, and has continued to feature in top level races in North American and the Caribbean during the 2026 season.
Asked about his unusual longevity in the sport, James cited an unwavering commitment to excellence and a deep desire to represent Grenada on the global stage as key factors.
“I always have that [desire] in the back of my mind, so that overflows into my training and everything else, the way I try to live my life, and all of those things,” he told Olympics.com.
James’ success has hardly gone unnoticed in Grenada, with his fellow citizens naming at least one stadium and road in his honour. He was also granted knighthood in 2025, and had his portrait added to the five-dollar East Caribbean Dollar banknote in July 2026.
“I can only feel no other way, but to be humbled by it,” he said of numerous honours and tributes bestowed upon him, without picking his favourites. “Because I would have never imagined [it] coming [from] 20 years ago to where I’m at. I wouldn’t rate them to any degree, I’m just grateful for it.”
While James himself has done much to lift the Isle of Spice’s international profile, his success has also paved the way for a generation of talented Grenadian athletes to shine on the global stage, including 2019 men’s javelin world champion Anderson Peters and three-time Commonwealth Games decathlon champion Lindon Victor.
That said, he believes there’s more untapped talent waiting to be discovered if given the opportunity to practice the sport and compete on an even playing field with athletics’ superpowers like the United States and Great Britain.
“I think there’s so much talent on the island,” he stressed. “We just have to find the right ways to harness it and for them to try to express their talent.
“We have to find the best way to get all of these talents to maximise their potential.”