Julien Alfred upsets Sha’Carri Richardson for Olympic 100-meter gold
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
PARIS — 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. Records come and go. Olympic medals are forever. Look at the Caribbean, look at these tiny islands, look how amazing we are.
“To be from a small place, Dominica, St. Lucia and to be on a global stage right now and just putting our countries on the map means a lot.”
Legend has it that Christopher Columbus sailed by St. Lucia on his fourth voyage to the Americas in 1502 but took so little notice of it that there is no record of it in his journals.
“People are always asking me where is St. Lucia?” Alfred said. “Now being Olympic champion, a lot of people are going to be looking for St. Lucia.”
The island is the size of Tucson and, with a population 178,000, has fewer people than Oxnard. Alfred was named for her father, Julian, who worked at a local hotel. Growing up, the family struggled financially and with Julian’s alcoholism. Julian was also his daughter’s biggest and, she recalled Saturday, loudest supporter.
The family didn’t have money for shoes, so Alfred ran barefoot and in her school uniform in her earliest races. The island also didn’t have a track.
Alfred was 10 when her father died. Four years later, she moved to Jamaica to attend St. Catherine High School, a sprint powerhouse.
“I moved to Jamaica because I believed I needed a new environment,” she said. “Also (Jamaica’s) great sprinting culture, I wanted to be a part of that.”
Alfred caught the attention of Texas coach Edrick Floreal after finishing second in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
She won two NCAA 100 titles for the Longhorns and was undefeated in the 100 in 2023 until she got to the World Championships in Budapest. Alfred blew Richardson away in her pro debut – 10.89 to 10.97 – shortly before the Worlds, but finished only fifth in Budapest.
“I didn’t believe I could be (Olympic champion) after having a disappointing World Championship last year,” she said. “But I think my coach really got me together and he made me believe Olympic champion, I’m not gonna lie.”
In March, she won the World Indoor Championships 60-meter title. Even so, Richardson arrived in Paris as the favorite to win gold medal, especially since Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, the 2022 World Championships 100 and 200 champion who second to Richardson in the 100 at last year’s Worlds, withdrew from the 100 earlier in the week to focus on the 200. Thompson-Herah didn’t make it to Paris after suffering an Achilles injury in June.
The Jamaicans would deliver one more stunning moment Saturday: Fraser-Pryce withdrew just minutes before her 100 semifinal that also included Richardson and Alfred. Fraser-Pryce, competing in her fifth and final Olympics, suffered an injury in warmups, according to Ian Kelly, Jamaican team director.
About two hours before the semifinals, Richardson and Fraser-Pryce were initially denied access to the practice track because they didn’t take an athlete bus from the Olympic Village to Stade de France.
“They’ve changed the rules,” Fraser-Pryce can be heard telling a security person in a social media video of the incident. “We came through this gate before but now they’re saying athletes who have left can’t use this gate.”
Alfred won the semifinal, running 10.84 to Richardson’s 10.89, and regrouped with Floreal.
After journaling, she spent the rest of the morning watching Usain Bolt race videos on YouTube.
“Usain Bolt won so many medals,” she said of the Jamaican superstar. “I went back this morning and watched his races. I’m not going to lie, it was all Usain Bolt’s races this morning.”
Then Saturday night, Alfred went out and won with Bolt-like dominance. Richardson, last out the blocks, was never in the race, finishing a distant second, 0.15 seconds behind in 10.87. U.S. teammate and training partner Melissa Jefferson took the bronze in 10.92.
For several minutes, Alfred paced back and forth between the middle of the track’s first turn and the finish line, like she was lost, uncertain of what had just happened.
Finally about five minutes after the race, appearing to find comfort in the St. Lucia flag someone had wrapped around her, she covered her face with her hands and began crying.
She thought about all the people back in St. Lucia.
“I’m hoping this will have the youth in the country believe they can get out of (poor areas),” Alfred said, “and have them believe that even though they’re from a small place in the Caribbean, they can make it out. LaFond just won. So it means a lot to the small islands and see how we can come from a small place and also be on the biggest stage.”
And she thought of her father Julian.
“I’m thinking of God, my dad, who didn’t get to see me (win),” she said. “Dad, this is for you. I miss you. I did it for him.
“He couldn’t get to see me on the biggest stage of my career. But he would always be so boastful of his daughter being an Olympic champion.”
Later, Alfred was asked about the race. At what point did she think she would be that Olympic champion?
“To be honest, I’m going to be honest with you,” she said, a slight hint of embarrassment on her face and in her voice.
“This morning.”