St Lucia’s Julien Alfred takes gold in women’s 100 metres

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Julien Alfred of St Lucia won the women’s 100 metres at the Paris Olympics in a national record of 10.72 seconds, upsetting world champion and fastest woman in the world this year Sha’Carri Richardson of the US who had to settle for silver.

Alfred, 23, became the first athlete from the tiny Caribbean nation of 168,000 inhabitants to win an Olympic medal. Richardson suffered a poor start in pouring summer rain, but rebounded in the final metres to claim second place in 10.87 seconds. Her compatriot and training partner Melissa Jefferson won bronze, narrowly edging Daryll Neita of Great Britain.

Constrained by resources at home, Alfred moved to Jamaica for high school and attended the University of Texas. Asked what her historic victory meant for St Lucia, Alfred said: “I’m really hoping we can get a new stadium, I’m really hoping we can help the youth in the country . . . to help them believe that even though they came from a small place in the Caribbean, they can make it out.”

The results followed an evening of confusion at the Stade de France during which a pre-race favourite, the three-time gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica abruptly dropped out before the semi-final. Videos circulating on social media purported to show Fraser-Pryce and Richardson initially being denied entry to the warm-up area a few hours before the start of the event.

Christopher Samuda, president of the Jamaican Olympic Committee, told the Financial Times he was aware of the videos but had not yet been briefed by Fraser-Pryce’s management team as to why she did not start the semi-final.

“I have every confidence that she would have participated in the final”, he said, noting that she looked comfortable and confident in previous warm ups. “Shelly is such a character that she would want to go out running for her country”. 

A spokesman for World Athletics deferred questions about warm-up area access to local organisers. Spokespeople for Paris 2024 and the Jamaican athletics federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Alfred’s gold medal marked the first time since 2004 that a non-Jamaican has won the women’s 100 metres at the Olympic Games, and the first time since 1988 that Jamaica has been completely shut out of the medals in the event.

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, defending Olympic bronze medallist in the 100 metres, withdrew from the event in Paris in order to focus on the 200 metre race, her speciality.

Richardson, whose personal best of 10.65 places her fifth on the all-time list, made her first Olympic appearance after winning the 2021 US Olympic trials for selection to the Tokyo Games, only to have her results nullified days later upon a positive test for marijuana, a prohibited substance.

Alfred’s victory came on an evening of firsts — Dominica’s Thea Lafond, 30, won gold a few minutes later in the triple jump. She broke the national record with her 15.02 metre jump, and in the process secured her country’s first ever Olympic medal.