The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Antigua and Barbuda
This page contains a list of the greatest Antiguan, Barbudan Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 5 of which were born in Antigua and Barbuda. This makes Antigua and Barbuda the birth place of the 126th most number of Athletes behind Iraq, and Rwanda.
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Antiguan, Barbudan Athletes of all time. This list of famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.
1. Brendan Christian (b. 1983)
With an HPI of 42.53, Brendan Christian is the most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.
Brendan Kyle Akeem Christian (born 11 December 1983) is a sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specializes in the 200 metres. Born in Antigua, he is the son of Donald Christian who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal as a cyclist. His personal best 100 metres time is 10.09 seconds, achieved in June 2009 in Nivelles. He is also a holder of the Antiguan and Barbudan record in 4 x 100 metres relay with 39.90 seconds. As a junior, he won the silver medal in this event at the 2002 World Junior Championships, where he also finished sixth in the 100 metres race. He then competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-final, and the 2006 Commonwealth Games where he reached the semi-final. In 2007 he won the 100 metres bronze medal and the 200 metres gold medal at the Pan American Games. Shortly after, at the 2007 World Championships, he reached the semi-finals in both events. There, he set a national record in the 200 metres of 20.23 seconds. Christian represented Antigua and Barbuda at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 200 metres and placed second in his first round heat after Aaron Armstrong in a time of 20.58 seconds. He improved his time in the second round to 20.26 seconds and won his race in front of Churandy Martina and Kristof Beyens. He ran his semi final race in 20.29 seconds and placed fifth, failing to achieve a spot in the Olympic final. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he again reached the semi-finals, but again placed fifth, missing out on a place in the final.
2. James Beckford (b. 1975)
With an HPI of 41.65, James Beckford is the 2nd most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
James Beckford (born 9 January 1975 in Saint Mary, Jamaica) is a Jamaican track and field athlete competing in the long jump. He represented Jamaica at the Olympic level in 1996, 2000 and 2004. He was the silver medallist in the long jump at the 1996 Olympics and also has two silvers from the World Championships in Athletics (from 1995 and 2003). He was chosen as the Jamaica Sportsman of the Year for 1995, 1996 and 2003. He is the current holder of the Jamaican record for the triple jump with a mark of 17.92 m, and was also the holder of the long jump record at 8.62m until 28 September. 2019 when it was replaced with a mark of 8.69 m by Tajay Gayle at the World Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar. Beckford was educated in the United States and began his athletics career there, specialising in the horizontal jumps. He took the triple jump title at Florida's Class AAAA championship, representing William R. Boone High School. He moved to Texas to study at Blinn College. While there he improved Delroy Poyser's Jamaican record with a jump of 17.29 metres (56 ft 8¾ in) – a mark which was also the world-leading outdoor jump at that point in April 1994. His personal best of 8.62 m (28 ft 3+1⁄4 in) is currently ranked 15th on the all-time list. Since he made that jump, 5 April 1997 in Orlando, Florida, only 6 men have jumped farther. He was banned from competition for three months in 1997 after he failed a drug test for ephedrine, a banned stimulant. He has competed at the World Championships on five occasions and the IAAF World Indoor Championships on six occasions. Aside from his global performances, he has won medals at the Summer Universiade, the Goodwill Games, the IAAF Grand Prix Final, as well as a silver medal from the 1998 CAC Games. He remains active, winning the 2018 World Masters Championships.
3. Daniel Bailey (b. 1986)
With an HPI of 39.55, Daniel Bailey is the 3rd most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Daniel Bakka Everton Bailey (born 9 September 1986) is a sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specializes in the 100m.
4. Heather Samuel (b. 1970)
With an HPI of 38.18, Heather Samuel is the 4th most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Heather Barbara Samuel (born 6 July 1970) is a retired sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres. In 1990 she won two medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games with a silver medal in the 100 metres and a bronze medal in the 200 metres. Samuel was a sprinter/jumper at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky from 1991 to 1994; in 2004 she was selected for the Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame. Her World Championships debut came in 1993, when she competed in 100 and 200 m at the 1993 World Championships. She did not reach the final in either event. In May that year she had achieved a career best time over the 100 m, clocking 11.20 seconds in Indianapolis. In May the next year she clocked a career best time of 23.20 over 200 metres in Atlanta. In 1995 she became Central American and Caribbean Champion for the only time. She again competed in two events at the World Championships, again without reaching the final, and repeated this at the 1997 World Championships. In 1999 she made her debut at the World Indoor Championships, and only competed in the 100 metres at the World Championships the same year. She competed in the 100 m as well as her last world-level 200 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and in the 60 m at the 2001 World Indoor Championships, again without reaching the final round. However, she repeated her success from 1990 at the Central American and Caribbean Games, once again winning a silver and a bronze medal. In 2003, she reached the 60 m semi-final at the 2003 World Indoor Championships, which was her best result in a global athletics event. Unsuccessful participations at the 2003 World Championships and the 2004 Summer Olympics followed. She has not competed since 2004.
5. Sonia Williams (b. 1979)
With an HPI of 34.78, Sonia Williams is the 5th most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Sonia Olivia Williams (born May 28, 1979) is a female track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Antigua and Barbuda. Williams was born in St. Johns, and represented Antigua and Barbuda at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She competed in the 100 metres sprint and placed sixth in her heat without advancing to the second round. She ran the distance in a time of 12.04 seconds.
6. Cejhae Greene (b. 1995)
With an HPI of 29.87, Cejhae Greene is the 6th most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Cejhae Colin Greene (born 6 October 1995) is an Antiguan sprinter. He attended the Princess Margaret School. Cejhae is the first of three children born to Jonah Greene and Colin Greene. Greene won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2012 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics in San Salvador, El Salvador. In his Olympic debut in Rio at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Greene advanced past the round of heats but finished seventh in his semifinal and did not advance to the final. He qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2017, Greene was named Antigua and Barbuda Sportsman of the Year award.
7. Charles Fernandez (b. 1954)
With an HPI of 25.39, Charles Fernandez is the 7th most famous Antiguan, Barbudan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 3 different languages.
Charles Henry “Max” Fernandez (born (1954-12-24)24 December 1954) is a Labour Party politician from Antigua and Barbuda who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from June 2014 to 2018. He currently serves as Minister of Tourism, Investment and Economic Development.
People
Pantheon has 7 people classified as Antiguan, Barbudan athletes born between 1954 and 1995. Of these 7, 7 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Antiguan, Barbudan athletes include Brendan Christian, James Beckford, and Daniel Bailey. As of April 2024, 2 new Antiguan, Barbudan athletes have been added to Pantheon including Heather Samuel, and Sonia Williams.
Living Antiguan, Barbudan Athletes
Go to all Rankings
Brendan Christian
1983 - Present
HPI: 42.53
James Beckford
1975 - Present
HPI: 41.65
Daniel Bailey
1986 - Present
HPI: 39.55
Heather Samuel
1970 - Present
HPI: 38.18
Sonia Williams
1979 - Present
HPI: 34.78
Cejhae Greene
1995 - Present
HPI: 29.87
Charles Fernandez
1954 - Present
HPI: 25.39
