Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred has added another major accolade to her burgeoning curriculum vitae, winning the women’s 100m title at the Wanda Diamond League Final on Friday at the Boudewijnstadion in Brussels. Alfred, the Olympic 100m champion, ran a time of 10.88 seconds to lift her first-time professional crown.
Alfred wins USD 30,000, the prestigious diamond trophy, and gets a wildcard spot for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Japan, meaning she had already punched her ticket to the next global stage.
Second was Alfred’s training partner, Dina Asher-Smith, of Great Britain, in 10.92 seconds, ahead of Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith in 11.05 seconds. Britain’s Daryll Neita ran 11.14 for fourth, whilst Sha’Carri Richardson of the USA was well out of the picture in eighth.
“I am so happy, it feels amazing to finish my season on a good note and to take the win,” said Alfred. “I am just so proud of myself. My preparation was a bit difficult, it was really hard for me after Zurich. But I think that actually prepared me for Brussels. That gave me the energy to do so good today.
“And during the race I tried to relax and to enjoy the last race of my season. But I think losing kind of put me up again, I had to perform. I wanted to prove to myself that I deserve to be here and that I am not a one time thing. Because after Zurich I watched the race on YouTube to analyze my race and I read some comments that said I was a one time thing and that´s really not nice to say.
“But I was here to prove to myself that I can win. But sometimes those comments can be very hard. And now I am going back to Saint Lucia and to Aruba! Last year I stayed in Austin but not this year.”
Alfred and Richardson came in as the headliners. They had met six times before Friday, sharing the last three major global titles between them. Richardson, 24, won the 2023 World Championships 100m title and got silver in the 200m in Budapest. Alfred, 23, mirrored that feat at the Olympic Games in 2024, when Richardson also got silver in the 100m.
Alfred also became the World Indoors 60m champion earlier this year in Glasgow, demonstrating her tremendous burst out of the blocks, and cementing her reputation as one of the top athletes over that distance all time, with the second-fastest time ever, and one of just eight athletes under seven seconds on multiple occasions.
Alfred’s run of 10.72 seconds at Paris 2024 made her the eighth fastest woman ever, all the more remarkable due to the wet conditions and lack of wind. Richardson had 10.65 to win in Budapest, making her the joint fifth-fastest run of all time, also without wind assistance.
Those runs were also the joint 40th fastest and joint 11th fastest in history.
Alfred’s 10.72 was also the second-fastest of the year, against behind Richardson, whose 10.71 at Hayward Field in Oregon, USA, was her 10th time under the 10.80 barrier. But with a lifetime record of 4-3 against her American rival, and three titles this season, Alfred has ended her first full year as a professional on an unquestionable high.
(Story Updated)
YEAHHHHHH!!!!!!
Congrats Juju. 🍾 🥂 We have even more to celebrate come the 24th 💃🕺 💃🕺 💃🕺 …
Congratulation to Julien.
Fastest woman in the World!!!!
So very proud of Julien Alfred and her continued victories.
Congratulations Juju, keep on running you’re the best👏👏
Congrats to you Ms Alfred and to SLU keep on the journey of success and pray you train other young one behind you.
You have done well…I congratulate you and I bless you with many blessings in all that you aspire to do. Keep focused and maintain your gracious respectful spirit ..you have my prayers, congratulations and my admiration..God bless you 🙏🏾🙏🏾
Congrats juju Julien Alfred st lucia 🇱🇨 🏅 🏆 diamond league winner #ronthecityendorsement blesspath 🙏🏿
CONGRATULATIONS 🎊 Julien we St Lucians are very,very proud of your accomplishments.
It’s great that Julien Alfred is achieving HER goals and has made a contribution in raising the profile of St Lucia in doing so. It’s also important for people here to be proud of her achievements. Quite rightly she is also benefitting financially from her hard work. The Government by giving her a Diplomatic Passport is also recognising her victories. They should also be funding (in her honour) community sporting facilities and programs rather than giving money/a house to her personally. Money where it is needed. She is well on her way to financial wealth and security for the rest of her life and being the decent person she seems to be (has set up a foundation in SL) I’m sure she would agree. It is the right and sensible thing to do.
@Youth Programs… You are wrong. The government has not even disclosed what they are going to give her but you are already here saying the money should go to other things instead. Why can’t they do both? The government should give her a hefty sum for what she has achieved. She deserves it. The impact that her performance has had on St. Lucia’s international profile and it’s people is immeasurable. So I don’t mind her getting whatever money or property they decide to gift her. These governments waste so much money on crap. Why can’t they use that for all these programs you mentioned? Don’t even talk about the amount of money wasted on borbol every year, which is wayyyy more than she will ever receive from them. So as far as I am concerned, they should give her as much as they want.
@Youth Programs
Stop…..I left St. Lucia way before Julien Alfred was born. Quite frankly this young lady sacrificed a whole lot to get to where she is. She continues vigorous training on a daily basis. This achievement does not come overnight. In addition. she also acquired a degree while doing all this. Do you know what it takes to obtain a degree in the US?…I do years of intense study and sacrifice.
If the government of St. Lucia decides to give her the Pitons she deserves it …(of course I am just making a point).
Stop trying to figure out what she will make based on her achievements (vayyaaa zaffaire) and let her be. If she becomes a billionaire..guess what she sacrificed and she deserves it. God bless you Ms . Alfred in all that you aspire to do.
There are some folk who had never heard of St. Lucia however, because of Julien’s achievement, St. Lucia is now on the map in a VERY big way. Therefore your tourism and economy will benefit tremendously. If she is given a mansion with a million rooms she deserves it. Some of you Lucians can’t just congratulate and keep it moving…she needs to watch some of you for real. Bayteeze…
Mona you are talking nonsense so what about the 30 thousand USD that she earn for the race . The sprint queen is already a millionaire so why give her the poor tax payers money for her achievements all we have to do is name something after her so the government should give Daren Sammy and Johnson Charles money as well after they have millions some of you people are mad like me with my bipolar disorder
Why are you folk counting people money and doing math……????? You don’t know their expenses …you all are too much. You all are naive there is an entire team of professional individuals involved in their process and the team members are not volunteers…..some of you Lucians are too much for real. That’s why some Lucian folk never return….some of you are envious and bad minded on every level.