Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred will return to the track this Thursday at Weltklasse Zurich, aiming to defend her Wanda Diamond League title over the same distance.
Forecasts for Letzigrund Stadium suggest cool and rainy conditions, similar to the weather Alfred faced during her win in Paris last year.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Alfred expressed confidence ahead of next month’s World Championships in Tokyo, saying she has no fears or concerns as preparations intensify.
“For me, whenever my coach feels like I’m ready to get out there, and he always says to me, he will never put me on the line if I’m not ready to compete,” Alfred insisted. “So I know that whenever I’m there, you know, I’m always ready to compete and not scared of anybody.”
The 24-year-old champion from Ciceron will take to the track for the first time since July 19. It will have been 38 days since she ran 21.71 seconds over 200m, the fastest time in the world for that distance, at the London Athletics Meet.
In recent weeks, false reports have circulated that Alfred was injured. She bristled when asked about those reports.
“I’m pretty healthy. I can’t complain. And that’s a good place to be,” she said. “I mean, all praise to the Most High that I’m here and pretty healthy.”
Last year in Paris, Alfred faced a rapid turnaround between the 100m final and the opening round of the 200m. She eventually took silver in the 200. In Tokyo, she will have more breathing room between her events. Asked about facing down World and Olympic champions Shericka Jackson, Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson in Tokyo, she adopted a sanguine tone.
“I know last year the semifinal in the 100 was very stressful,” she recalled. “I cannot think about the 200. That’s not something I think about. I know I have spoken about accepting the 200 anytime many times, but I’m not really thinking about the 200. I just want to have fun when it comes to the 200, and just not really think so much of it, as compared to the 100 where I think it’s my baby event, and I really wanted to just ensure I’m executing.”
Alfred has said in the past that she does not display her medals and trophies, hiding them away so that she does not get caught up in her past achievements. She credited her family and coach Edrick Floréal for keeping her focused on the challenges to come.
“I have a great team around me that keeps me grounded,” she explained. “And I had to realise that it’s only one championship and there’s more that I want. So, I have to realise I can’t get comfortable, because there’s always somebody coming. And I know that I’m only now just starting off my career as a professional. And I had to continue working hard, continue making sacrifices to get what I want. So, I just stuck to that.”
Still, she is not looking too far ahead, and Alfred said that she is yet to think about her third time at the World Championships, after making the 100m semifinals in 2022, and the finals in both of her events in 2023.
“Anything you want in life never comes easy,” she stated. “But I’m just thinking one day at a time, one race at a time. I’m not thinking about World Champs yet. I do have this race tomorrow, God willing, to think about. And then whenever that’s done, I’ll think about World Championships and then the 100 and 200.”
