Sir Kirani Zeno JamesGCNGCBECOG (born 1 September 1992) is a Grenadian professional sprinter who specializes in the400 metres. He won the400 m at the World Championships in 2011 and won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.[2] In the400 metres, James also won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, thus becoming the first man to earn the full set of three medals in the centennial history of the event. He isGrenada's first Olympic medalist.[3] He holds theGrenadian national record in both the200 metres and 400 metres.
As ajunior, James also specialized in the 200 metres. Prodigious from a young age, he ran the fastest 400 m times ever by a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old. He won a series ofgold medals at theCARIFTA Games and theCommonwealth Youth Games and rose on the international stage with 400 msilver medals at the2007 World Youth and2008 World Junior Championships. James became the first athlete to run a 200/400 double at the2009 World Youth Championships and was the 2010 World Junior Champion.
James received anathletic scholarship at theUniversity of Alabama and won back-to-backNCAA Outdoor Championship titles in his first two years. He is the third fastest of all-time indoors (44.80 seconds) and ran a personal best of 43.74 at a 2014 Diamond League event in Lausanne. James is one of only eleven athletes (along withValerie Adams,Usain Bolt,Veronica Campbell-Brown,Armand Duplantis,Jacques Freitag,Yelena Isinbayeva,Faith Kipyegon,Jana Pittman,Dani Samuels, andDavid Storl) to win World Championship titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels of an athletic event.
Kirani James attended theGrenada Boys' Secondary School at age 12. He has always been considered a promising athlete since he first arrived at the scenes in the 400 and 200m in the Intercol games. At the age of 14 James won the gold medal in the 400 m at the2007 CARIFTA Games in the under 17 category with a time of 47.86 seconds. He went on to winsilver medals at the2007 World Youth Championships with a time of 46.96 s, a time which is the fastest run by a 14-year-old.
In April 2008, he defended hisCARIFTA 400 m title, winning the200 metres with a time of 21.38 s. In July of that year, he won a silver medal at the2008 World Junior Championships with a time of 45.70 s, which was his personal best, and a national youth and junior record. In October, he won thegold medal at the2008 Commonwealth Youth Games with a new games record of 46.66 s.
James made his thirdCARIFTA Games appearance in2009 and, in his under-20 debut, he defeated the defending 400 m champion and fellowGrenadianRondell Bartholomew to win in a personal best of 45.45 s. This easily set a new championship record, beatingUsain Bolt's six-year-old mark of 46.35 s.[4][5] In consequence, he was awarded theAustin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the games.[4][6]
James became the first youth athlete to complete a 200/400 metres double gold at the2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics. Noting that he would be a junior athlete for a further two years, he focused on upcoming events, pinpointing the2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics and the2012 Summer Olympics as future goals.[7] Following this, he won the 400 m at the2009 Pan American Junior Championships.[8] He was declared the 2009 Grenada Sportsman of the Year.[9]
At least ten colleges in the United States had expressed strong interest in recruiting James for their track team, includingBaylor,Alabama,South Carolina,Florida State, andArizona State.[10] He accepted a scholarship offer from Alabama and in his first-ever appearance on an indoor track he ran a 45.79 in the 400 meters, placing first and breaking the 10-year-old school record of 46.46 held byCori Loving.[11]
James ran a new indoor personal best of 20.94 in the 200 m dash at theTexas A&M Challenge atGilliam Indoor Track Stadium inCollege Station, Texas on 13 February 2010.[12] He was runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing behindTorrin Lawrence. James lowered his 400 m personal best to 45.02 s at the 2010 CARIFTA Games, where he took a 200/400 m double,[13] and improved further to 45.01 in winning theSEC Championships 400 m title. He claimed the gold medal over 400 m at the2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, but stated he was only running for times and was not satisfied with his winning performance of 45.89 seconds.[14] He won the NCAA Outdoor Championship title in his first year of collegiate competition.[15]
James moved up to third on the all-time indoor lists in February 2011, recording 44.80 seconds to win at the SEC Indoor Championships. This left onlyMichael Johnson andKerron Clement as the faster athletes indoors, and also betteredLaShawn Merritt's previous world best junior time of 44.93 seconds.[16] He failed to reach the podium at the NCAA Indoor meet as he clashed with another athlete and fell mid-race.[17] He managed to repeat as the collegiate champion outdoors, however, as he edged ahead ofGil Roberts by one-hundredth of a second.[18] After the end of the college season, he made his professional debut at theLondon Grand PrixDiamond League meeting and established himself among the world's best with a personal best run of 44.61 seconds – a time which made him the fastest man that year.[19]
At the 2011 World Championships inDaegu, South Korea, both James and fellowGrenadian runner Rondell Bartholomew made the finals of the 400 metres event. James won the event in a personal best of 44.60 seconds, becoming the youngest 400 metres world champion at the age of 18.[20][21] The medal was the first for Grenada in any event at the World Championships in Athletics.[21] Nine days later, James won the 400 metres at the 2011 IAAF Diamond League meet in Zürich with a new personal best of 44.36 seconds.
At the London 2012 Olympics, James won the second 400 metres semi-final, achieving a season-best of 44.59 seconds. At the end of the race, James exchanged name tags with double-amputee runnerOscar Pistorius as a sign of respect for him.[22]
On 6 August 2012, James won the 400 metres Olympic gold in a time of 43.94, a national record, earning Grenada its first-ever Olympic medal and becoming the first non-US runner to break the 44-second mark.[23] World record holderMichael Johnson said, following the race, that James stood a chance of beating his record if he was able to deal with the remaining flaws in his technique.[3] James described his win as "a huge step for our country in terms of stepping up to the plate in track and field, just going out there and putting us on the map".[23]
His domestic reception proved to be a euphoric one. Thousands lined the streets in preparation of his return, and he was greeted with an emphatic and vociferous national pride.[24] Also upon his arrival thePrime Minister,Keith Mitchell announced Mr. James would be bequeathed government bonds totaling up toEC500,000, a commemorative stamp be crafted in his honor, a new stadium be named for him, and that he would be appointed a tourism ambassador.[25]
In December 2012, James and Jamaica's Usain Bolt were named co-sportsmen of the year byCaribbean Journal.[26]
On 3 July 2014, at theAthletissima meet inLausanne,Switzerland, he improved his personal best to 43.74,[27] equaling the fifth fastest time in history, and the fastest by a non-U.S.A. athlete.
On 17 November 2014, James and Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer were named the sportsman and sportswoman of the year respectively by the Caribbean Sports Journalists' Association.[28]
At the 2015 World Championships, James won a bronze medal in the first World Championship 400 metres race, in which three men broke 44 seconds.
At the Rio 2016 Olympics, he won the silver medal in the 400 metres in a time of 43.76, behindWayde van Niekerk'sworld record 43.03. The following year, James raced sparingly and was diagnosed with Graves' disease.[29]
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kirani James earned a bronze medal in the Men's 400m finals, finishing 3rd behind Colombia's Anthony Zambrano (Silver) and Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas (Gold). In doing so, he denied U.S.A. favorite Michael Norman a place on the podium.
He was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2022 New Year Honours for services to Sport.[30] In 2024, following the end ofParis summer Olympics, he was appointed aCompanion of the Order of Grenada (COG).
In 2025 James was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by theUniversity of the West Indies.[31] He was subsequentlyknighted to mark Grenada’s 51st independence anniversary, being made aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Nation (GCNG).[32]
| Event | Time | Competition | Venue | Date | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 metres | 20.41 | UTEP Invitational | El Paso, Texas, United States | 16 April 2011 | ANR | [33] |
| 20.58 | Cherry & Silver Invitational | Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States | 21 January 2011 | iANR | [34][35] | |
| 400 metres | 43.74 | Athletissima | Lausanne, Switzerland | 3 July 2014 | WLNR | |
| 44.80 | SEC Championships | Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States | 27 February 2011 | iWJRWLNR | [36] | |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | 3:04.27 | CAC Championships | Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 17 July 2011 | NR |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Grenada | |||||
| 2007 | CARIFTA Games (U-17) | Providenciales,Turks and Caicos Islands | 6th | 200 m | 22.10 (+1.2 m/s) |
| 1st | 400 m | 47.86PB | |||
| World Youth Championships | Ostrava,Czech Republic | 2nd | 400 m | 46.96PB | |
| 2008 | CARIFTA Games (U-17) | Basseterre,Saint Kitts and Nevis | 1st | 200 m | 21.38 (+2.0 m/s) |
| 1st | 400 m | 47.87 | |||
| World Junior Championships | Bydgoszcz,Poland | 2nd | 400 m | 45.70PB | |
| Commonwealth Youth Games | Pune,India | 1st | 400 m | 46.66GR | |
| 2009 | CARIFTA Games (U-20) | Vieux Fort,Saint Lucia | DQ (h1) | 200 m | False start |
| 1st | 400 m | 45.45PBGR | |||
| DQ (h1) | 4 × 100 m relay | Out of zone | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:11.93PB | |||
| World Youth Championships | Brixen,Italy | 1st | 200 m | 21.05 (−0.9 m/s)PB | |
| 1st | 400 m | 45.24PBCR | |||
| Pan American Junior Championships | Port of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago | 1st | 400 m | 45.43 | |
| 5th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:11.91PB | |||
| 2010 | CARIFTA Games (U-20) | George Town,Cayman Islands | 1st | 200 m | 20.76 (+0.8 m/s)SB |
| 1st | 400 m | 45.02PBGR | |||
| World Junior Championships | Moncton,Canada | 1st | 400 m | 45.89 | |
| 2011 | CAC Championships | Mayagüez,Puerto Rico | 5th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:04.27NRPB |
| Pan American Junior Championships | Miramar,Florida | 1st | 200 m | 20.53w (+2.2 m/s) | |
| World Championships | Daegu,South Korea | 1st | 400 m | 44.60PB | |
| 2012 | World Indoor Championships | Istanbul,Turkey | 6th | 400 m | 46.21 |
| Olympic Games | London,England | 1st | 400 m | 43.94WLNRPB | |
| 2013 | World Championships | Moscow,Russia | 7th | 400 m | 44.99 |
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow,Scotland | 1st | 400 m | 44.24GR |
| 2015 | World Championships | Beijing,China | 3rd | 400 m | 43.78SB |
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro,Brazil | 2nd | 400 m | 43.76SB |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 5th | 400 m | 44.54 |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | 400 m | 44.19 |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 2nd | 400 m | 44.48 |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 5th (sf) | 400 m | 44.581 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 5th | 400 m | 43.87 |
1Disqualified in the final
Kirani's athletic accomplishments have inspired many Grenadians and led to many objects on the island being named after him, includingKirani James Athletic Stadium and Kirani James Boulevard, both of which are located in the parish of St. George.
| Olympic Games | ||
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| Preceded by | Flagbearer for Grenada London 2012 Rio de Janeiro 2016 | Succeeded by |
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World U20 Champions in men's400 metres | |
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Commonwealth Games champions in men's400 metres | |
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| 440 yards (1930–1966) | |
| 400 metres (1970–present) |
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