Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred became the fastest woman on earth after winning the 100-meter race at the ongoing Paris Olympics. Alfred stunned pre-race favorite Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States, 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. Meanwhile, Richardson had to settle for silver after clocking 10.87 seconds. USA’s Melissa Jefferson claimed bronze with a time of 10.92 seconds.
In the final, Richardson’s poor reaction time contributed to her second-place finish. The American had a reaction time of 0.221 seconds, while Alfred had a reaction time of 0.144 seconds. Alfred was too far down the track for Richardson to mount one of her famous comebacks.
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 see me on the biggest stage of my career. But he’ll always be so proud of his daughter being an Olympian,” Alfred was quoted by Olympics.com as saying.
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 in the history books by becoming the first-ever Olympic medalist from Saint Lucia 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 medalists. First gold medalist at the Olympic Games,” she added.
This time, however, there was no dominance from the Jamaicans in the women’s 100m race, unlike the Tokyo Olympics. In the previous Summer Games, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah claimed gold, while Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson of Jamaica secured the second and third spots, respectively.
