Julien Alfred swiftly got back to winning ways on Friday, dominating the women’s 100m at the Meeting Herculis EBS in Monaco. The Olympic champion and Wanda Diamond League champion in 2024, the 24-year-old Saint Lucian has now qualified for the 2025 Diamond League final.
After placing second behind world leader Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the USA last week in Oregon, Alfred journeyed across the Atlantic to the French Riviera. She turned in a time of 10.79 seconds, but again had to battle unfriendly winds, running into a breeze of -1.4 metres per second.
Alfred’s third Diamond League win of the season, and her third run under 10.80, came at the expense of Jefferson-Wooden’s American teammate Jacious Sears, second in 11.02, and New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs, third in 11.12.
Sears looked sharp out of the blocks, and the two women came through the first 40 metres fairly evenly, but Alfred pulled away for the win by a significant margin.
Alfred reflected on her first loss of the season last week, and the road ahead as she prepares to challenge for her first World title in Tokyo in just over two months.
“The season is going well so far. Last week was not the best for me, but it also showed me that I am not where I should be and that there are things that I still need to work on,” she conceded.
“The season is long, but I don’t have any trials, so I will have time to work on the details. I took a step back and realised that I won’t put any pressure on myself this year. I was listening to all that outside noise, but I am focused on just Julien right now.”
This will be the third time at the World Championships for Alfred. She made it to the semifinals of the 100m in 2022 but fell victim to a false start. In 2023, she made the finals in the 100m and 200m.
This time around, she revealed that she will have the full support of coach Edrick Floreal, who has been guiding her career for the better part of the past decade. She gave coach Floreal full credit for being a major part of her growth and development since her time at the University of Texas.
“I didn’t have my coach with me at the World Championships in 2023, but he is going to travel with me to Tokyo,” she said. “My coach has been training me since I was 17. Now I am 24, and it has been a long time. He knows me inside and out, like a dad. He is also my mental coach, someone I can count on.”
