Julien Alfred lowered her Saint Lucia national record, world lead, and meeting record to 21.71 seconds at the Novuna London Athletics Meet, a Wanda Diamond League event, on Saturday morning. Alfred has now run the 10th fastest time ever, and she is tied for the ninth fastest woman ever over 200m.
Alfred’s fifth run of under 21.9 seconds was her best by far, into a negative wind of -0.6 metres per second. The 24-year-old from Ciceron ran a personal best in London for the second year in a row. She took second place with a 21.86-second run behind Gabrielle Thomas of the USA in 2024. Alfred’s 21.71 replaces Thomas’ 21.82 as the meeting record. Her time also ties for the eighth fastest this early in the season.
Running out of Lane 7, and flanked by training partners Rashidat Adeleke of Ireland and Dina Asher-Smith of the United Kingdom, the Olympic 200m silver medallist was off the blocks quickly, and took full command of the race early on. She went through 100m in 11.15 seconds, splitting 10.56 for the second half of the race.
Asher-Smith, a former world champion over this distance, was a distant second in 22.25 seconds on her home turf. Fellow Briton Amy Hunt ran 22.31, a personal best, for third. For Alfred, it was her 10th win in 11 races across all distances this year.
”It was a strong first 150 metres of the race, and I managed to control it to finish strongly,” Alfred explained. “It was a great race for me, and races like this give me a lot of confidence as we get closer to Tokyo. I did the 200m [in London] last year before the Olympics and I finished second, but seeing how I ran today and how comfortable I felt, I am a lot more confident in my 200m heading into the Worlds.”
Alfred had previously run 21.88 seconds in Florida earlier this year. She now has the two fastest times for 2025, and a massive confidence boost as she continues preparations for the Tokyo World Championships in September.
