In just a year, Shafiqua Maloney’s life has transformed from one of despair to a bright spot at the Paris Olympics. Once homeless and hungry, the middle-distance runner from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines made her mark in Paris 2024, becoming the first Vincentian athlete to ever reach an Olympic final.
On August 5, at the Stade de France, Maloney narrowly missed a podium finish in the women’s 800m final, according to Olympics.com.
The 25-year-old had made a remarkable comeback this season, overcoming her instability and hardship to become the 12th fastest runner over the women’s outdoors.
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Despite narrowly missing a historic Olympic medal for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the resilient athlete remains proud of her performance at Paris 2024, especially given that it was only her third appearance at a major global championship.
“Being homeless… it was definitely hard,” she told Olympics.com after finishing fourth behind Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson. “Nobody wants to be in that situation, but I think it all happened to make me a stronger person. I grew a lot of mental strength, and I think it prepared me for the rounds at the Olympic Games, not to be nervous, be patient and trust in God.”
As Maloney stood at the start line for the women’s 800m at Paris 2024, a wave of emotions washed over her. She had finally earned her place among the world’s elite, but she still felt set apart. It wasn’t just because she represented one of the smallest nations at the Olympics.
Unlike her competitors, Maloney until now lacked the contracts, training perks, and sponsors. Yet, the Olympian found herself among the world’s best, dreaming of winning the first-ever Olympic medal for her Caribbean island nation of just over 103,000 people.
A few months earlier, her story could have taken a very different turn.
“I wanted to quit,” she told Olympics.com of the period last year when she couldn’t even figure out where the next meal would come from.
“No matter how many times I told coach I want to do this no more he didn’t let me quit. My mum, she also would not let me quit. She was struggling as well, and she sacrificed a lot to be able to help me train,” Maloney shared of her mother, who works in a cruise-ship to also support her two siblings.
“My mum said, ‘I don’t care what it takes, I will use everything I have just to let you keep on training and stuff. One of the biggest things, I had to surrender myself to God, and I had to trust him with everything that was going on.”
Her athletic journey began in school, inspired by fellow Vincentian Kineke Alexander, a three-time Olympian, whom she watched run the 400m on TV.
This inspiration led Maloney to pursue her dream, moving to the U.S. for college and eventually becoming the flag bearer for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics.
“Once I got running in high school, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” she told SportsMax TV.
“Everybody who asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, ‘I wanted to run’. It was very immature and when I got to college, I got the chance to.”
Maloney graduated from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville with a master’s degree in operations management and made the NCAA championships. However, doing competitive sports became hard for her as she lacked sponsors. She couldn’t also work on a student visa, making her situation worse. Still, she braved the odds to make it to Paris.
“Honestly, before I came here, I didn’t have like a workout or race. I wasn’t like ready, but I spoke to my coach [Chris Jackson] and he told me that I was ready, and I had to trust and believe in what he tells me. I knew too, God had a plan for me.
“One of the biggest things I took away was that it doesn’t matter what somebody runs when they’re coming in, at the end of the day it’s about who wants it the most and shows up. I came in the final, of course I wanted a medal, them more. It was definitely a learning experience and I’ll be back, and I’ll be better.”
