Grenada's Kirani James-at-commonwealth-2014-newsamericasnow
The ‘King’ of Grenada, Kirani James.

News Americas, Thurs. July 31, 2014:  The ‘King’ of Grenada, Kirani James has struck gold for his small island and made history at the Commonwealth Games of 2014 to increase the Caribbean region’s medal count at the Games.

James, 21, took the historic win in the 400-m race on a bitter and breezy night in Glasgow.

The Grenadian glided to the win in 44.24 sec, a new Games record. Trinidad & Tobago’s Lalonde Gordon took bronze in 44.78.

“I’m just happy for the country,” said James. “This win is for everyone back home. I glimpsed him across the curve so I had to stay composed and in control and I ended up running a great time. The crowd was fantastic. I love it here. They really cancel out the weather.”

The Caribbean region’s medal count at the Games now stand at 19. Jamaica leads with 12 medals including 3 gold medals; Trinidad & Tobago has three but no gold while there’s two for Grenada including James’ gold and there’s one apiece for The Bahamas and Barbados.