How Julien Alfred went from running barefoot in St. Lucia to the fastest woman in the world

PARIS — Julien Alfred awoke at 5 a.m. on the morning of the Olympic 100-meter final feeling like she needed some extra inspiration.

The St. Lucia sprinter opened her journal and wrote the words, "Julien Alfred, Olympic champion." She also pulled up videos of some of Usain Bolt’s Olympic victories.

“I was picturing myself coming across the line and being an Olympic champion,” Alfred said.

Only hours later, Alfred’s vision became reality. Alfred burst out of the blocks and ran away from American pre-race favorite Sha’Carri Richardson with startling ease, winning in a blazing 10.72 seconds to secure her tiny Caribbean nation’s first Olympic medal.

As a smiling Alfred streaked across the finish line, she ripped off her bib and started pointing at her name. It’s a name that is now etched in history after the 23-year-old ran the eighth-fastest women’s 100 in history Saturday night on Stade de France’s rain-soaked purple track.

"It means a lot to me," Alfred said. "I definitely knew that Saint Luciens would be watching and hoping that they could get their first Olympic medal. I’m sure they’re celebrating right now."

All week, the path to Olympic gold seemed to be clearing for Richardson, the reigning world champion three years removed from a positive marijuana test that cost her the chance to vie for a medal in Tokyo. When Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was scratched before Saturday’s semifinal with a hamstring injury, it ensured that not a single one of the Jamaicans who swept the Olympic podium in Tokyo would contend for the final in Paris.

In retrospect, it was Alfred whom Richardson should have feared most. The two-time former NCAA champion in the women’s 100 seemed unbothered by the Paris downpour, her winning margin of 15 hundredths of a second the largest in an Olympic final since 2008.

“My coach’s message was to go out there, warm up confident and just trust myself and trust the training that I’ve done,” Alfred said. “Yesterday, I was a bit nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing to be honest. Today, I had to go out there and just have fun.”

Alfred’s victory is the culmination of a journey that she said began in St. Lucia’s capital city, Castries, with her running barefoot in her school uniform. She eventually secured the attention of her school teachers when she began beating the boys in her first- and second-grade classes.

Bolt was Alfred’s childhood hero.

“I just wanted to be just like him,” she said.

With tears welling up in her eyes Saturday night, Alfred described the heartbreak of her beloved father’s death when she was 12. For months, she quit running after he passed, unable to bear the thought of doing their shared passion by herself.

"He’d always be so boastful of his daughter being a future Olympian,” Alfred said.

By age 14, Alfred had rediscovered her love for sprinting, but she felt like she needed a different environment to fully tap into her potential. In 2015, she moved to Jamaica to attend St. Catherine High School and “to see how far I could go with the sport.”

The answer was far, unimaginably far for someone who grew up humbly on an island with fewer than 200,000 people and little tradition of athletic success. In 2018, she accepted a scholarship to Texas. In 2022, she won the first of two NCAA titles in the 100. In 2023, she swept the 100 and the 200 at NCAAs, turned pro and signed with Puma.

Failing to medal in either the 100 or 200 at World Championships last year shook Alfred’s confidence. Her legs were weary from a long college season and she didn't have enough left to compete with elite sprinters who had trained only with World Championships in mind.

At that point, she said she didn’t believe she could become an Olympic champion in Paris. She credits coach Eldrick Floreal with instilling confidence and helping her turn the pressure she felt into motivation.

"He has been my rock," she said. "He has been there through the ups and downs, through the hard times. I’m happy he never gave up on me. He’s like a dad and a mentor to me."

Sometimes, when Alfred will meet new people, someone will hear her accent and ask where she is from. When she says St. Lucia, they'll inevitably ask, "Where's Saint Lucia?"

Sometimes, when Alfred will meet new people, someone will hear her accent and ask where she is from. When she says St Lucia, they'll inevitably ask, "Where's le for them.

“I’m really hoping that we can get a new stadium,” Alfred said. “I’m really hoping that we can help the youth in the country believe that they can get out of the ghetto, help them believe that they can make it here.

“We can come from a small place but also be on the biggest stage.”