Ronald Joseph Forbes (born 5 April 1985) is a track athlete from the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

. Forbes is an All American 110 meter hurdler and 60 meter hurdler who competed collegiality for

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

from 2005-2008 . Forbes went on to pursue a professional track and field career competing in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2012, and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Forbes has competed in the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and 2015 Athletics World Championships. Indoors, Forbes has qualified and competed

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and 2012 World Indoor Athletics Championships. Forbes has competed in the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, and

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. During the opening ceremonies for the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics he was the flag-bearer for the

. He took up athletics when he was 14 as a discus thrower and shot putter, because he hoped it would give him the opportunity for travel and a scholarship. He eventually earned a scholarship in 2004 to Bacone College in Muskogee Oklahoma where he became the

Red River Athletic Conference The Red River Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference's 13 member institutions are located in Texas, Louisiana Louisiana , group=pr ...

champion in the 400 meter hurdles and after a year, transferred to Florida International University. During his time at Florida International University, he was a two time All American, finishing 3rd in the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships and 8th in the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He is currently the Cayman Islands National Record Holder and the Florida International University Record Holder in the 55, 60 and 110 meter hurdles. In 2017 he was awarded the honor of having the Football Stadium in his home district of North side renamed to ''The Ronald J Forbes Playing Field''; in the same year he has been recognized as a National Sports hero in the Cayman Islands.

Personal bests

Outdoor

*200 m: 21.65 s (wind: +0.3 m/s) –

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, 12 April 2008 *110 m hurdles: 13.36 s (wind: +0.4 m/s) –

Clermont, FL Clermont is a city in Lake County, Florida, Lake County in central Florida, United States, about west of Orlando, Florida, Orlando and southeast of Leesburg, Florida, Leesburg. The population was 43,021 in 2020. The city is residential in charac ...

, 30 April 2016 *400 m hurdles: 52.79 s –

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 15 May 2005

Indoor

*60 m hurdles: 7.58 s –

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

, 14 March 2008 *200 m: 22.33 s –

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

, 26 January 2008

Achievements

Forbes is the Cayman Islands and Florida International University

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

(outdoor),

60 metres hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds ( Susanna K ...

(indoor) and

55 metres hurdles 55 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling, usually only run in indoor competitions. This is more commonly run at the high school level. The objective is to approach the first hurdle with 7 steps, each hurdle after that needs to have 3 step interv ...

(indoor) record holder.

References

Ronald Forbes' profile at Florida International University Athletics

External links