The pangs of historic triumphs can sometimes hurt, and that is exactly what Julien Alfred’s coach experienced yesterday. In what was an unbelievably glorious turn of events, Alfred clinched the gold medal in the women’s 100m sprint. With heavyweight opponents such as Sha’Carri Richardson, Tia Clayton, and Daryll Neita breathing on her neck, what Alfred pulled out was pure magic. 

On a rain-soaked evening, Julien Alfred looked like a bolt from the blue as she dashed 100m in just 10.72 seconds. While this was a moment to remember for Julien Alfred and her coach, the celebrations went a tad bit wrong. In a recent video posted on X by the NBC Olympics, Alfred’s coach, Edrick Floreal, got tackled to the ground as staff rushed in to celebrate the memorable moment.

Unfortunately, such a celebration was a little too much to allow inside the Olympic arena. Due to Floreal’s out-of-the-ordinary rush of excitement, he was creating a distraction for everyone else and was forced to sit out of the arena. Well, considering the magnitude of Julien Alfred’s success, this was a fairly easy punishment to take. Floreal, who himself is a 2x Olympian, took over the reins of the Texas Longhorns in 2018.

It was during this time that Julien Alfred crossed paths with Floreal. Initially introduced to each other at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, Alfred registered herself as a Longhorn to train under Floreal. As a matter of fact, Julien Alfred is not the only star pupil Edrick Floreal coached. His long list of shining athletes includes the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Keni Harrison, and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. 

Soon after joining forces with Floreal, the experienced coach realized Alfred’s potential and attended to her with customized programs. Unfortunately, after spending a couple of decent years, Julien Alfred’s 2021 was plagued by injury. But her impeccable zeal to get back up and compete saw her clinch the NCAA 100m title in 2022. Alfred went on to clinch four more accolades to her name in 2023, making her a popular name in the NCAA track and field circuit. And doing justice to her rising fame, Julien Alfred stormed through the qualifiers to set foot in the Olympics. 

Julien Alfred’s route to the Olympic triumph detailed 

Competing at the Glasgow World Indoor Championships in March 2024, Alfred clinched the gold as the first 60m indoor champion from Saint Lucia. Alfred took a mere 6.98 seconds to finish her run, etching herself in the history books. After qualifying for Paris 2024, Alfred found herself with the daunting task of going toe to toe with the greats of the world. With 2023 World Champion Sha’Carri Richardson breathing fire with a world lead timing of 10.71s, Alfred had to go above and beyond to try and overcome the challenges. 

And boy did she do that in style. Running in the same subdivision as Richardson, Alfred dominated the semis to put behind Sha’Carri Richardson (10.89s) by clocking 10.84s. A similar feat was repeated in the finals as Richardson once again fell behind with a timing of 10.87s, as Alfred improved her timing drastically to clinch the golden snitch, clocking at 10.72s. 

Reflecting on her triumph, Julien Alfred recalled how she ran around in St. Lucia barefooted. It was her father who believed that Alfred would become a champion one day, and Alfred looked content having proved her father right. She said, “He believed I could do it… He couldn’t get to see me on the biggest stage of my career.” Thus, wrapped in a glorious enigma, Julien Alfred will be remembered by track fans for a long time.