Julien Alfred had an unbelievable 2024. Deji Ogeyingbo places the season in perspective for the tremendously proficient sprinter from Saint Lucia! Within the U.S., we’ve got a plethora of nice athletes, and lots of instances, we take that present without any consideration. Deji reminds us that the folks of Saint Lucia positive don’t do this with Julien Alfred, who gained Olympic medals within the 100m (gold) and 200m (silver). What a season!
How Julien Alfred turned the queen of sprinting in 2024
At the beginning of 2024, Julien Alfred possible had one objective in thoughts—to safe a podium end on the Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old dash sensation from St. Lucia was no stranger to expectations, however what unfolded over the course of the yr exceeded even her wildest goals. In a season full of surprises and excessive drama, Alfred emerged as arguably the primary sprinter in ladies’s observe and area, notably within the 100m.
Alfred’s journey to stardom this yr started when she claimed the ladies’s 60m indoor title in Glasgow in March. This victory set the tone for the yr and gave a glimpse of what was to come back. She adopted up this early triumph with a string of wins on the Diamond League circuit, constructing momentum forward of the extremely anticipated Paris Olympics. However the actual breakthrough got here when she did the unthinkable. Alfred claimed the Olympic 100m title, outpacing a area of observe’s largest names, together with the favourite, Sha’Carri Richardson.
The Olympic remaining was a defining second for Alfred, however her journey had been constructing up to now for years. The potential had all the time been there, however 2024 was the yr all the things clicked. All eyes have been initially on the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who many thought would get her swan track on the Paris Video games. Elaine Thompson-Herah, a double Olympic gold medalist from Rio and Tokyo, was additionally within the dialog, as was Richardson, who had lengthy been tipped to interrupt America’s drought within the 100m occasion on the Olympics.
Richardson had been the speak of the city main as much as the video games. Many believed the American was destined for gold after she stormed via the heats and appeared unstoppable. Nevertheless, within the semifinals, Alfred delivered the primary shock by defeating Richardson, elevating doubts about whether or not the American star may come again for a fairytale win within the remaining.
Alfred’s victory within the remaining wasn’t only a win for her—it was a monumental achievement for the small Caribbean island of St. Lucia, a nation with a inhabitants of below 200,000. At simply 23 years previous, Alfred turned the nation’s first-ever Olympic medalist, a undeniable fact that etched her identify in historical past. Her time of 10.72s not solely secured her the gold but in addition set a brand new St. Lucian nationwide document, inserting her among the many prime 10 quickest ladies of all time. She gained by a staggering 0.15 seconds, the most important margin in an Olympic ladies’s 100-meter remaining since Fraser-Pryce’s victory in 2008 in Beijing.
For many athletes with a background within the 60m, sustaining top-end pace over the total 100 meters could be difficult. Nevertheless, Alfred has confirmed again and again that she just isn’t like most sprinters. Her means to hold her pace via the end line has been constant all season, a testomony to her expertise and meticulous preparation. The 2024 season noticed the tip of Jamaica’s dominance within the Olympic ladies’s 100m, a streak that had lasted via the previous 4 Olympics.
Athletics is never an easy journey. Accidents, teaching modifications, and the pressures of competing on the highest degree can derail even essentially the most promising careers. However Alfred has weathered a few of these storms, and her rise in 2024 demonstrates her maturity and readiness for the massive stage. Alfred, although all the time a robust contender, wasn’t broadly anticipated to come back out on prime. However she had been quietly knocking on the door of greatness, and Paris was the proper stage to announce her arrival.
Regardless of not being an entire newcomer to the worldwide observe scene—she had dominated the NCAA circuit and have become the World Indoor Champion earlier within the yr—Alfred’s expertise had but to completely break via in mainstream conversations. Successful the Olympic gold in Paris modified all of that. She adopted it up a month later to win the Diamond League title in Zurich.
As for Alfred, the importance of her victory can’t be overstated. St. Lucia had by no means seen a observe star fairly like her, and the island nation is undoubtedly basking in her success. She returned to a heroes welcome in Saint Lucia few days in the past with tens of hundreds of individuals out on the streets celebrating her achievements this season. This wasn’t her first homecoming celebration, because the Saint Lucian authorities had already honored her athletic achievements in the summertime of 2022.
Alfred herself stays humble and grounded, regardless of her meteoric rise to the highest. Reflecting on her Olympic success, she stated in a latest press convention, “It’s been good; I’ve actually been having fun with the method and simply actually taking in what occurred in Paris, however simply not getting forward of myself. I’m simply attempting to take it one step at a time.”
The long run appears extremely vivid for Alfred, however on the finish of the day, she would look again at 2024 as her watershed second.
