By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHE is a two-time World indoor 60 metre champion and world record holder. But the one thing that has eluded her glaring career so far is a medal on the global stage outdoors in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Could this be the year that the Bahamian national indoor and outdoor record holder mounts the medal dias at the World Championships?

“I’m excited about competing in Tokyo,” Charlton said. “I’m looking forward to another opportunity to represent The Bahamas on the world stage.”

This will be Charlton’s fifth appearance at the championships - the biggest track and field competition outside of the Olympic Games - and once again she will be joined by her younger sister Anthaya Charlton. 

This year’s championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from September 13-21 and Devynne Charlton said she’s taking it in stride just as she did in hurdling over the previous one. 

“The approach to the championship is the same as always, show up, give my best effort and let my performance speak for itself,” said a confident Charlton.

She has seen a constant improvement after not making out of the preliminaries in her first debut in 2015 in Beijing, China, placing 27th overall, to 13th in the semifinals in 2017 in London, England and making the final ever since with seventh in Eugene, Oregon in 2021 and fourth in 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. 

With the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations taking a slightly younger team than in the norm in the past where the veterans dominated the list, Charlton fits in as one of the elder stateswomen.

She is coming off her second consecutive sixth-place finish in the 100m hurdles at her two appearances at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 and Paris, France, last year. 

But with all of the experience she has gained as the oldest female and the second oldest member on the team going back to Tokyo behind high jumper Donald Thomas, who is 41, the 29-year-old Charlton cautioned the others, including her 22-year-old sister, Anthaya.

“I would advise the younger members of the team to just treat this track meet as if it’s any other, not to make it anything more than what it is and just  go out there, compete and have fun,” Charlton said. 

Charlton, who lowered her Bahamian national record to 12.44 at the 2023 Worlds on August 22 in Budapest, goes into the championships with the 14th best time posted this year with her season’s best of 12.52 in Letzigrund, Zurich, on August 26.

But while she trails in the list led by her training partner American Olympic champion Masai Russell, who did 12.17 in Miramar, Florida back on May 2, Charlton said she always likes her odds. 

“I always bet on myself and so I’m not concerned about where I stack up against the competition,” she quipped. 

“The only thing that matters is how well I can execute my race when the time comes.”

Rolando “Lonnie” Greene, the Bahamian head coach at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky where he trains both Russell and Charlton, said he expects Charlton to represent The Bahamas to the best of her Yahweh given ability.  

“It is mine, like every coach who has an athlete at these upcoming World Championships, to podium,” said Greene, who will be in Tokyo to monitor the progress of both competitors. “I think she is ready to accomplish the goals she has set for herself this 2025 season. 

Her preparation going into these World Championships has been great. I am excited to see how it unfolds.”

Greene, a former sprinter, assured the public that anything can happen on any given day in competition because that is the reason why it is called competition. 

“My hope and prayer is that she exceeds all expectations including her own,” he summed up.

And once she’s done, Charlton said she plans to turn her focus onto her Barrier Breakers Foundation where her team is now planning to host her first track meet next year when she intends to bring a lot of the athletes competing in Tokyo to The Bahamas.

“I’m very excited about that,” said Charlton, who has done a whole lot of charity work off the track since the launch of her foundation in December, 2024.

The Legends Track and Field Devynne Charlton Invitational is scheduled for Saturday, January 24, 2026 at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium.