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- Published: August 4, 2024 08:39
Paris: Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred became the fastest woman on earth after winning the 100-metre race at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Alfred stunned pre-race favourite Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States of America, who claimed the second spot. Alfred clocked 10.72 seconds to claim gold in the rain-drenched race at the Stade de France’s running track.
Brilliant – supporters in Castries, St Lucia watching Julien Alfred win their first ever Olympic medal as she won the 100m #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/YNpBmn1eWn
— Declan Lee (@DeclanLeePR) August 3, 2024
Meanwhile, Richardson had to settle for the silver after clocking 10.87 seconds. USA’s Melissa Jefferson claimed bronze with 10.92 seconds.
In the final, Richardson’s reaction time was poor for which she had to settle for the silver. The American had a reaction time of 0.221 seconds. Meanwhile, Alfred had a reaction time of 0.144 seconds. Alfred was just too far down the track for Richardson to mount one of her famous comebacks.
This is what it’s all about pic.twitter.com/8NuzdMNraz
— NKY Bracket Guy (@BracketNky) August 3, 2024
After finishing the race, Alfred dedicated the win to her father, who passed away in 2013. “Most importantly, God, my coach, and lastly, my dad, who believed that I could do it. He passed away in 2013, and now he couldn’t get to see me on the biggest stage of my career. But he’ll always be so boastful of his daughter being an Olympian,” Alfred was quoted by Olympics.com as saying.
Julien Alfred won by 0.15 seconds.
That’s **pure domination** for a 100m race! #BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/4ZuG874XQ7
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 3, 2024
The 23-year-old had to leave athletics when she lost her father. But her coach motivated her and convinced her to return to the sport. The Saint Lucian also etched her name on the history book after becoming the first-ever Olympic medallist as she claimed the gold medal in the women’s 100m.
“Growing up, I’ve always said I wanted to be one of Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medallists. First gold medallists at the Olympic Games,” she added.
SAINT LUCIA TO THE WORLD ‼️
🇱🇨’s Julien Alfred storms to the Olympic 100m gold medal with 10.72 🤩
That’s the first medal in the history of the Olympic Games for her country. #Paris2024 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/3c92Ql9EoP
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 3, 2024
However, this time there was no dominance from the Jamaicans in the women’s 100m race, like what happened in the Tokyo Olympics.
In the previous Summer Games, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah claimed gold. Meanwhile, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson of Jamaica secured the second and third spots, respectively.