Sir Kirani hails from Gouyave and after completing his secondary education at the Grenada Boys Secondary School, he matriculated and graduated with a BSc degree in Business and Commerce from the University of Alabama.  In 2022,  Sir Kirani received the Order of the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to athletics.  In 2024, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies Global Campus, and in the same year, Dr. James received   Grenada’s highest Order of Recognition, the Knight Grand Cross during Grenada’s 50^th Anniversary of Independence celebrations.  Growing up in Gun Battle, Kirani and his friends played football, basketball, cricket, and he attributes his focus on athletics to his teachers and the coach of Speed Zone, Mr. Albert Joseph.  Although Gun Battle was a tough neighborhood, the community had a profound sense of values and respect for elders and each other.  His mother, the late Annie James, known in Gouyave as Ms. Pamela, was a guiding influence in his life, and Kirani attributes a lot of who he is today to that guidance.  After Kirani’s first local race he had an award of choosing an item from a tray at the finish, and he remembers choosing a pair of green socks, which he treasured.  His first international competitive race was the Caribbean Union of Teachers Competition held in St. Lucia in 2006 when Kirani was just 13 years old, and he won a gold medal in the 400 and a silver in the 200 meter races.   He was  especially proud of beating competitors from the larger countries where athletics was well established, such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad, etc.  This win gave him the confidence that track could play an important part in his life.