In the City of Light, a moment of golden illumination. It came from Julien Alfred, who won St Lucia’s first ever Olympic medal and shocked the world as she beat the American favourite Sha’Carri Richardson with ease.
As Alfred crossed the line in 10.72sec, a time that made her the eighth fastest woman in history, she held her hands in disbelief before ripping her bib off and started pointing to her name. Everyone will know it now.
It was the culmination of a journey that began at the age of six or seven at Leon Comprehensive School in Castries, the capital of St Lucia, when the librarian noticed her potential as she was beating the boys. Yet there were bumps on the way too. Most notably when she quit the sport, at 12, when her father died. But she was persuaded to return.
Long behind her was Richardson who could only run a modest 10.87, while another American, Melissa Jefferson, took bronze in 10.92. Britain’s Darryl Neita ran with huge credit in coming fourth in 10.96.
Those who know Alfred talk about how relaxed and down to earth she is. But, they say, she knows what she is capable of achieving too. The world of track and field has always known St Lucien has a blue-chip pedigree. A string of NCAA indoor and outdoor titles last year proved that. Now she is the best in the world.
And what of Richardson? When this night began, most people were already mentally placing gold around the 24-year-old’s neck. She was the world champion; the fastest women in 2024; the athlete with the highest ceiling. But the Olympics bring pressures that can swallow even the greatest talent.
That was obvious before the race. She looked nervous as she lined up in the blocks, got a poor start, and she would have known within 30 metres that gold was already out of reach.
