In last year’s battle for the title of the Nassau Guardian’s Senior Female Athlete of the Year, Bahamian Olympian and gifted hurdler Devynne Charlton narrowly lost to Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Champion Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones.
However, this time around, bragging rights belongs to the women’s 60 meters (m) hurdles world indoor record holder, and two-time champion Charlton, who once again displayed why she is a household name in the local and global track and field community.
In a panel of three voters, Charlton, now a three-time World Indoor Championships medalist, and two-time champion, secured the first-place spot with a total of 44 points.
She returned to the top spot on the Nassau Guardian’s podium after successfully claiming the title of senior female athlete of the year in 2023 as well.
Ironically, finishing tied for second in the voting process was Charlton’s younger sister, Anthaya, who closed out her collegiate tenure with the University of Florida (UF) Gators on a high note and made her professional debut in track and field as a Puma athlete.
Anthaya Charlton received a total of 38 points along with the 2024 WNBA Champion and WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jones.
Bahamian veteran sprinter Anthonique Strachan also received support from the voters, clinching a total of 25 points for fourth overall after a season that showcased her resilience, grit, and determination.
Charlton takes top honors
Devynne Charlton put the track and field world on notice at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, where she won her first gold medal in the women’s 60m hurdles at the global level.
It was a moment so nice that she had to do it twice, this time at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
Charlton left the global meet as a two-time world indoor champion and gold medalist after storming to a season’s-best time of 7.72 seconds, holding off her competitors for another world indoor gold medal.
The current world indoor record holder in the women’s 60m hurdles was a woman on a mission during the heats of the event.
She clocked 7.94 seconds in the first round of the heats and lowered that mark to 7.82 seconds to advance all the way to the final.
Charlton’s second straight world indoor title was a celebratory moment, but it was not as seamless as it was in her 2024 campaign.
In fact, the three-time World Indoor medalist entered the 2025 World Indoor Championships with the eighth-fastest time in the world for the event and was working her way back from a chipped bone injury and muscle strain sustained prior to the indoor season.
Nonetheless, Charlton came, saw, and conquered, further cementing her legacy as one of The Bahamas’ premier senior female athletes.
Her success in 2025 did not end during the world indoor season.
The two-time Olympian returned home to defend her national title in a highly anticipated women’s 100m hurdles final at the 2025 Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Open Track and Field National Championships at the beginning of August.
She won the national crown with a time of 12.74 seconds.
Charlton went on to compete at the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
She advanced to her fifth straight global outdoor final and closed out the meet with a sixth-place finish in the women’s 100m hurdles final.
The national record holder advanced to the semifinals after progressing from the prelims in a time of 12.69 seconds.
In the semifinals, she ran 12.51 seconds for third place before turning in a time of 12.49 seconds in the final.
Her time was just shy of her national record of 12.44 seconds.
Anthaya and Jones tie for second
While Charlton ran away with first-place honors, her younger sister Anthaya, along with Jones, made the race for second interesting.
Before closing out her tenure with the Florida Gators, Anthaya Charlton etched her name into multiple record books and made her mark in both the sprints and jumps.
The 22-year-old versatile athlete set a new indoor national record in the women’s long jump at the 2025 Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
She leaped 6.98m (22’ 11”) to establish a new Bahamian indoor record, eclipsing the previous mark of 6.82m (22’ 4-1⁄2”), set by Daphne Saunders in Gainesville, Florida, in 1994.
One of her most memorable moments of the season came at the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Competing in the women’s 100m semifinals, Charlton crossed the line in first place with a blistering time of 10.87 seconds.
Her mark was the first sub-11-second performance in Florida Gators history and was tied for the second-fastest time in the world at the time.
Additionally, she became the sixth-fastest performer in collegiate history, and her personal best was just a few hundredths of a second shy of Chandra Sturrup’s national record of 10.84 seconds, making her the second-fastest Bahamian woman ever.
She eventually capped off the event with a fourth-place finish in the final, posting a time of 11.19 seconds.
Making her professional debut as a Puma athlete, Charlton doubled up on national titles in the women’s 100m and long jump at the 2025 BAAA Open Track and Field Nationals.
She won the 100m in 11.13 seconds and captured the long jump title with a leap of 6.40m (21’).
Her season culminated with her first global appearance outdoors at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Earlier in the season, she joined her sister Devynne on The Bahamas’ team for the 2025 World Indoor Championships. At the world indoors, Anthaya Charlton competed in the long jump and finished sixth with a leap of 6.57m (21’ 6-3/4”).
Focusing solely on the 100m at the world outdoors, Anthaya closed out the competition with a sixth-place finish in the semifinals, stopping the clock at 11.14 seconds, failing to advance to the final.
As for Jones, the 2025 WNBA season was not quite as electric as her 2024 campaign, but she still emerged as one of the league’s top performers.
The 31-year-old center averaged 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 49 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from three-point range.
Jones and the Liberty saw their title defense end early, losing to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the 2025 WNBA playoffs. The Liberty finished the regular season with a 27-17 win/loss record, good for second place in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the league.
Individually, Jones excelled during the regular season, leading the Liberty in rebounds (8.1 per game), finishing as the team’s total rebounding leader with 251 boards in 31 games.
She earned her second career All-WNBA First Team selection to close out the season.