The former NCAA champion from tiny St. Lucia wins the Caribbean’s fifth straight Olympic women’s 100 final, as Richardson takes silver and fellow American Melissa Jefferson gets bronze
Always an early riser on race day, St. Lucia sprinter Julien Alfred woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday, 17½ hours before the Olympic Games’ women’s 100-meter final that would put her and the tiny West Indies island where she grew up on the map.
It was too early for breakfast, so Alfred pulled out her journal and began writing.
“Julien Alfred,” she wrote. “Olympic champion.”
She proved true to her word Saturday night.
Racing through a steady downpour at Stade de France, Alfred stunned the Paris Games and the track world, blazing 10.72 seconds and upsetting American Sha’Carri Richardson to claim the 100-meter gold medal and the title as the world’s fastest woman.
Perhaps the most surprised person in the stadium was Alfred.
“I’m still try to think of what just happened,” she said more than two hours later. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Alfred’s triumph also apparently left Richardson speechless. The 2023 World champion refused to speak to the media in the mixed zone after the race and then was a no-show for the formal post-race press conference.
With Alfred’s victory, the last five Olympic 100-meter gold medals have been won by women from the Caribbean – she joined Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (2008 and 2012) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (2016 and 2021) – and capped a historic night for the region at the Olympic track venue.
Just moments after Alfred’s rain-soaked triumph, Thea LaFond of Dominica, with a population 72,737 small enough to fit into Stade de France, won the triple jump at 49 feet, 3½ inches. Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts picked up the silver at 48-9½ while another Jamaican, Rajindra Campbell, was a surprise bronze medalist in the men’s shot put.
American Ryan Crouser, battling an elbow injury that only days ago left him questionable to even compete in Paris, became the first man to win the event at three straight Olympics, clinching the three-peat with a 75-1¾ third-round throw.
“It is unbelievable how these tiny islands are cranking out such high-quality athletes,” LaFond said. “I’m so grateful for Julien, because I saw her get that gold indoor and I was like, ‘I’m getting a gold, too.’ I saw her get that gold (tonight) and I was like, ‘Well, I’m getting my gold, too.’ Maybe it’s copying, maybe it’s twinning. Whatever it is, we’re making history for our islands. Now we can bring hardware that will last forever.
