Four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon has ended his five-year relationship with Florida-based, T&T sprinter Khalifa St Fort.
According to a report on Sportsmax.TV yesterday, Boldon confirmed that it was his decision to part ways with the 2016 World Under-20 100 metres bronze medallist. He did not provide further details on the decision but wished her well.
Boldon said, "She took as much of a chance on me as I did on her in 2014 and there was much success along the way, including T&T national junior and youth 100m records and medals at World U-18 and World U-20."
St Fort's former coach added that the 21-year-old approached him recently, saying she needed some time off but didn’t comment further.
When contacted yesterday St Fort said that she was not ready to comment on the split. However, she wished both her former sprint coach, as well as former teammate Briana Williams all the best and much success.
The 2015 World Youth Championships silver medallist said she intends to compete again for T&T because "she loves doing so" and was grateful for all the support over the years.
St Fort also opened up about the injury which resulted in her decision to rest for 2019.
"I've been dealing with a pretty serious Achilles injury like it’s not exactly my Achilles, it’s a tendon next to it, and I’ve really been struggling with that this season so that’s what really made me decide to end my 2019 season," said St Fort. "I’m not able to sprint at the moment and I just thought it would be better to give my body the rest it needs, so I don't make it worse."
St Fort said that she has no plans to retire but wouldn’t comment on exactly when that will be, nor what competition she was targeting for her return.
Under Boldon, St Fort achieved her 100m personal best time of 11.06 seconds in 2017 from a previous best of 11.86 in 2014. Her 200m time also dropped from 24.42 to 23.31 during the same time period.
St Fort also won 100m gold medals at the Pan Am U-20 Championships in 2015 and 2017 and had sixth-place finishes in the 100m finals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the NACAC Senior Championships.
She was also a member of her country’s relay teams that finished fifth at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and sixth at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London in 2017. She was also a member of T&T's 4x100m bronze medal winning team in 2015 and became the youngest medalist since the championships began back in 1983.