“She ran like a tracer bullet,” were the words on everyone’s lips as Julien Alfred finished first at the 100m, both in the semi-finals and the finals. Though a lot of Sha’carri Richardson fans were disappointed since she was eyeing gold and had their heads bowed down, nonetheless, as they say, the game was the real winner. Alfred clocked 10.84 seconds in the semis, and she bettered that within a single race as she hit 10.72 seconds during the finals.

All this aroused a lot of curiosity, and fans wanted to know if the St. Lucia native had any American connections. For starters, Alfred is coached by Edrick Floreal, who emerged from the sidelines when her mentee was having possibly the best day of her life.

Who is Julien Alfred’s American coach, Edrick Floreal?

Floreal is the men’s and women’s track and field coach at the Texas Longhorns. He has retired as a long and triple jumper from Canada. Floreal won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 when he competed in the triple jump. Therefore, he is an experienced athlete who knows how to give results, something that was seen in Alfred’s performance.

Before joining the Texas Longhorns, the Haitian-born athlete was the director of track and field at Stanford University. Serving the program and giving his best, Floreal was named the “West Regional Coach of the Year” in 2010. Then he had a brief stint with the University of Kentucky, where he was chosen as the head coach for the cross country track team for men and women, before making his way to the University of Texas in 2018.

As for his personal life, he is married to LaVonna Martin, who won the silver medal at the 1992 Olympics in 100 meters. Therefore, the entire family has been involved in some or another sport, which can be linked to Floreal imparting sporting values to his mentees, who would now flock in numbers for his guidance after he propelled Alfred to gold. But was Julien Alfred always an excellent runner?

How was Julian Alfred’s time in college?

As for Alfred, she was a mid-year enrollee at the University of Texas during the 2018-19 academic season. She won a title at the Big 12 Championships. This helped her coach see a lot of potential in her, and the two soon started developing trust in each other. Apart from that, during her freshman year, Alfred also finished the 100m and 200m on a high by coming in second and third in them, respectively, in the outdoor races.

During her sophomore year, due to COVID-19, the outdoor races did not take place, whereas the next season she did not compete in the outdoor events. However, she came into her own during her senior year when she won two relays at the famous Texas Relays. This further was a hint that Julien Alfred was going to make it big at the international level. As for her graduation year, she had the second fastest all-condition time in college history when she finished with 10.72 seconds.

Now that Alfred had bagged the gold, Floreal would once again bask in the limelight. And this time, he would want to use his influence to coach more athletes who perform exceptionally well at the highest level. As for Alfred, she would be getting a warm welcome at the University of Texas despite being from Saint Lucia.