Let's Get Sunni To The World Championships

Barbados Today feature by Morrisa Lindsay


Barbados has its first-ever modern pentathlon medalist thanks to Sanojah 'Sunni' Gilkes who recently captured bronze at the United States of America Nationals and also earned a place in the Main Draw of the Olympic qualifiers for fencing.
Currently, the reigning Barbados Epee Champion, Gilkes, currently training in the United States is so far living her dreams having also qualified for the Junior Under-21 and Youth A Under-19 World Pentathlon Championships in Egypt starting early July.
During an interview with Barbados Today, the 17-year-old said that hard work and dedication are the key ingredients to achieving her goals and is hoping to inspire other young girls along her journey to success.
Gilkes shared her feelings about the experience so far and what it takes to compete at this level.
"It felt great Fencing some of the best Fencers in the PanAm region and the World. Knowing that I can only get better and more experienced is wonderful. I was the youngest competitor but felt I belonged and was not outclassed.
"I train for 30-40 hours a week, across five sports. It's tough but, when you get the results it is extremely satisfying. The five sports are so different that training is so specific to each, when they are combined in one day then, you feel that the hard work is justified," Gilkes said.
It has been an incredible four weeks for Gilkes who left Barbados on April 20th and has since taken on some of the world's best in fencing and modern pentathlon.
The confident and talented Gilkes traveled to Costa Rica, for the Pan-Am Olympic Qualifier, in the sport of Fencing. In pool play she successfully conquered the Costa Rica Women's Champion, Karina Diner ranked 147th in the world which allowed her to qualify for the main draw of the Olympics in fencing.
In the round of 16, Gilkes fenced number four seed and 112 in the world Yamilka Rodriguez Quesada of Cuba. Despite giving it her all, Gilkes lost 15-7 which allowed Quesada to secure the bronze medal.
However, Gilkes performance will go down in history because despite finishing 13th in the qualifier, it is the best showing by a Barbadian fencer.
In the modern pentathlon which is an Olympic sport and comprises five events - fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a final combined event of pistol shooting and a 3200m cross-country run - Gilkes did her country proud.
She celebrated her birthday at the end of April and gave herself a wonderful gift
Gilkes swam a personal best of 2:38:91 which was nine seconds faster than ever before and also a personal best of 16:43:97 in the Laser-Run. In fencing, she placed fifth out of all the Women's Divisions.
As she continued her amazing showing, Gilkes registered a Personal Best total of 995 points which was good enough for the Youth A bronze medal. And fourth position in the Junior Division which was just 15 points behind the eventual bronze medalist.
Then on the 23rd of May, Gilkes and her partner, Jake St. Clair won Silver in both the Junior and Youth A Mixed Relay. She also completed a Personal Best of 1:13:51
in the Pool over 100 yards.
A determined young lady, Gilkes said her dream is to represent Barbados at the Olympics and she is aiming for Los Angeles in 2028.
With regards to her achievements so far, she noted that the Olympic Qualifier in Costa Rica has been one of the most defining moments of her career.
"The Olympic Fencing Qualifier in Costa Rica and my subsequent Fencing performance in the US Nationals for Pentathlon has shown me how well I am progressing. Also, my swim in the Pentathlon individual was over nine seconds faster than I had ever swum the distance," Gilkes added.
As she expressed gratitude, Gilkes thanked all those who helped her along the way including her late fencing coach Corey Rogers.
"We had to leave Barbados on 20th April, in order to train, after the La Soufriere eruption and relocated to Miami. I want to thank all of my coaches in Barbados, Jack Kirivong and Javier in Miami, my parents, and, last but not least, dedicate this performance to my Fencing Coach Corey Rogers, who died suddenly in May 2020. He believed in me and I will never forget what he did for me in Fencing and, Pentathlon," she explained.
Many made financial contributions towards Gilkes so far in her endeavours by donating through her GoFundMe account (https://gofund.me/79ffd087) and she is hoping that support will continue.
Gilkes is currently based in Orlando, Florida, and will compete this Saturday, May 29th in one of the largest fencing tournaments.
Next stop the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Egypt. 

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Let's Get Sunni to the World Championships.