Who is Julien Alfred, the new Olympic sprint queen from St Lucia?

People were anticipating a gold medal for the USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson women’s 100m but it was lesser-known Julien Alfred, from an island of 180,000 people, who stole the show. The Saint Lucian sprinter delivered a brilliant performance to win the 100 metres final in a national record 10.72 seconds , beating world champion Richardson into silver and breaking Jamaica’s recent stranglehold over the event.

That it was Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medal only made the moment sweeter.

There are David-and-Goliath stories to be found across any Olympics but perhaps few of the proportion of Saint Lucia versus the United States - or Jamaica.

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Saint Lucia, an Eastern Caribbean island nation, had never previously had an athlete on the Olympic podium while Americans have won well over 300 titles in athletics alone, topping the all-time medal table by a massive margin.

Alfred, 23, got herself in the right mindset by watching videos of retired Jamaican great Usain Bolt on Saturday morning and by the evening had catapulted herself into her country’s own pantheon of greats.

“(I was) hoping that they could get their first Olympic medal and it came as a goal, so I’m sure they’re celebrating right now,” said Alfred, who grew up running barefoot in a country that lacked proper track facilities.

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“It feels amazing to be honest.”.

Alfred’s difficult upbringing

At the age of 12, her father Julian Hamilton died.

Five years later, just before she won Youth Olympic Games 100m silver in Buenos Aires in 2018, her aunt Karen Alfred, who had helped bring her up, passed away.

“I’m sure he would have wished for me to get this medal and be here for this moment,” Alfred said at the time.

She pinpoints that silver medal as a turning point for her career.

“I think that was the beginning of something great,” she told Olympics.com.

“It influenced my choices in going to college, as well, so I think it was a really good experience for me.”

Even getting to that stage in Buenos Aires had been an ordeal for the future Olympic champion.

Saint Lucia had never won an Olympic medal, ever, until this evening.

The people of Castries gathered to watch Julien Alfred in the women’s 100m final.

You love to see it. 🇱🇨 pic.twitter.com/EjYgb6oDhe

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) August 3, 2024

She was so rocked by Julian’s death she stepped away from athletics and two years later aged 14 decided to go to school in Jamaica, the home of her idol Usain Bolt, leaving behind her family.

“I did have tough times when I was 14,” she said earlier this week.

“I got an opportunity to go to Jamaica. So I think getting the opportunity to go to a place where Usain Bolt is was ideal and I decided I wanted to be there and my mum gave me the opportunity to go.

“She didn’t say no. She just said to me if you want to go then, okay.”

It certainly toughened up the young athlete and made her grow up fast.

“It was tough growing up without my family and friends,” she admitted.

‘A difficult adjustment’

Alfred, known as ‘Juju’, would not have thought then that she would develop into a talent who would compete on the Olympic stage where Bolt shone so bright.

However, taken in hand by Edrick Floreal at the University of Texas – he also coaches reigning European 100m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Irish 400m medal hope Rhasidat Adeleke – she developed into a superb sprinter.

A shy individual, Alfred found the perfect mentor in Floreal, someone who could read her and extract the best from her.

“He’s been like a dad, a mentor and a coach,” Alfred told Olympics.com.

“I think at this level sometimes there can be so much pressure and I really appreciate all that he has done, not just from a coaching standpoint, but also just being a human like I am.

“He’s seen me as a human and not just an athlete.”

Floreal has been wowed by how Alfred adjusted from the junior to the senior ranks.

“She’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s a difficult adjustment that a lot of kids are not able to do; there’s a lot of people pulling at you.”

As for the tough times she has endured, she chose an apposite saying from the Bible to put on her Instagram biography.

“Present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Her glory was revealed in 10.72sec on Saturday, stunning pre-race favourite Sha’Carri Richardson – and there promises to be much more to come.

With agency inputs