Julien Alfred shocked the world when she defeated the fan favorite Sha’Carri Richardson at the Paris Olympics. The St. athlete won the 100-meter final race with a time of 10.72 seconds, a superior figure to Sha’Carri’s 10.87. It was a monumental achievement for the St. Lucian racer, who was competing at the competition for the first time.

The results of the finals, however, were somewhat foreshadowed in the semi-finals itself, as she defeated Sha’Carri in that race too. But another athlete was present in their heat. It was three-time Olympic gold medalist Shelly Ann-Fraser Pryce. This was supposed to be her last Olympics campaign. However, she had to withdraw at the last minute due to an injury. Julien was quite shocked by this decision and claimed to have never seen anything like it.

Julien Alfred talks about being shocked at not seeing Shelly Ann-Fraser Pryce during the semis

Speaking to SportsMax, Julien Alfred said she was shocked not to have seen the world’s fastest woman, Shelly Ann-Fraser Pryce, racing during the semi-finals, as she had already seen her warming up in the warm-up area. Julien said, “I saw both she and Sha’Carri warming up. So I was just kind of confused as to what happened. But I’ve just never seen that before. I’ve never seen like something like that happen where somebody doesn’t really show up for a race.” Then she continued saying that she had never seen any lane empty during the Olympics before. It was always full of people.

But with Shelly not showing up, this was as far away from being the case in the semi-finals. This had also affected her preparations for the race. She had come up with some of her game plans aimed at countering Shelly Ann-Fraser Pryce due to her superhuman abilities. But since she wasn’t there, it could have gone on to influence the entire race.

Yet she still intended to do that and remain locked in. That served her well, as she placed first to qualify, then to win the gold Olympic medal. However, Julien Alfred knew she could do that at all times despite the doubts of others. She begins speaking prior to the race about how she is sure.

Julien Alfred believed that she could beat Sha’Carri Richardson in the 100m final

The story entering the 100-meter final at the Paris Olympics was that the occasion was going to be a two-horse race between Sha’Carri Richardson and Shelly Ann-Fraser Pryce. When Shelly withdrew, everybody put their money on Sha’Carri winning her first ever Olympic gold medal. However, Julien Alfred had other plans. She believed in herself even though she wasn’t the number one contender. In the same interview, the athlete further went to give an idea on how she knew that she was going to eventually come out as the winner of the title.

She said, “I knew I had it in the bag as long as I just go out there execute and do what my coaching I have been working on for such a long time and do the same thing like in the final, I knew I had it in the bag.” So when the final came around, it was this athlete who backed herself and her own abilities to end up in the first position.

Victory overnight turned her into a celebrity, as track and field enthusiasts could not get enough of her. It was no longer a far-fetched dream to become the ‘next Usain Bolt.’ As much as comparing oneself to the incredible Jamaican is a very high-pressure-inducing task, Julien has proven that she can handle it. She really seems to have a bright future ahead of herself.