“Coming from a smaller island and not being spoken of as much as like the Americans and the Jamaicans. I love it,” said St. Luica’s Julien Alfred ahead of winning her historic 100m Olympic. Appearing on Netflix’s SPRINT Part-II, the 23-year-old revealed her mindset after realizing she had been dwarfed by the shadow of favorite Sha’Carri Richardson.

Alfred had arrived in Paris as the underdog in the women’s 100m and 200m sprint events. However, there were other reminders that St. Lucia was still no more than a blip on the track and field map. The Olympian’s coach Edrick Floreal, exposed one of those reminders while discussing the tents where athletes rested. “There’s another tent for everybody to go chill in?” asked Coach Flo.

However, Julien Alfred stated that while the Paris authorities had set up tents, not every country had one. “I think so, but I dunno St. Lucia has one specifically,” guessed the sprinter, while her coach pointed out that only the countries with massive athlete pools have their dedicated tents near the track. “The big countries have one,” said Coach Floréal.

“Then there’s one for the other small countries to share,” he added in Episode 3 of the Netflix docuseries. The docuseries also focused on how Alfred’s manager Henry Rolle had to make calls to find which tent she could use. “Let’s for a man about their setup, cause they supposed to have a place for St. Lucia,” Rolle said during episode three.

However, despite these hurdles, Julien Alfred and her entire team seemed confident after the historic women’s 100 m finals in Paris. Rolle even explained how he had a dream two weeks ahead of the Paris Olympics, where he saw the 23-year-old win St. Lucia’s first Olympic medal. Julien Alfred and her coach also shared similar confidence in their ability to emerge victorious.

How suffering hardships turned Julien Alfred into the ultimate underdog

While discussing her goals with Netflix, Alfred revealed she wanted to win medals in both the 100 and 200m events.“St Lucia never won any medals before. Never. At all,” said the 2024 Diamond League champion. Coach Edrick Floréal also had immense confidence in his pupil after helping her overcome a mental slump ahead of the Olympics.

Since leaving her home to train in Jamaica at 14, Julien Alfred carved her path to track and field glory on her own for nearly a decade. “Earlier on that season, I had a breakdown… told my coach I didn’t want to continue the season… But my coach, he worked with me,” Alfred confessed on BBC’s Women’s Hour podcast. It was Coach Flo and Rolle who helped Alfred bounce back in time.

Hence, Floréal knew what his pupil was capable of even when the world didn’t notice her. “I’ve seen her grow and be strong, handling the stuff that life throws at you,” said the 58-year-old Canadian. So despite the immense pressure of carrying the hopes and dreams of all of St. Lucia, Alfred flipped the script on defending world champion Sha’Carri Richardson.

While everyone thought Richardson would complete her redemption tour by winning Olympic gold after the 2023 World Champions, it was Julien Alfred who crossed the finish line 10.72 seconds, ahead of Richardson’s 10.87-second finish. Hence, despite inconveniences like not having a dedicated tent near the track, nothing could stop Alfred’s momentum.