Surprise in the queen test of women’s speed athletics: Julien Alfredof St. Luciadefeated the American favorite Sha’Carri Richardson and was proclaimed Olympic champion of the 100 meters feminine of the Olympic Games of Paris 2024.
Alfred impressed with a time of 10.72, a new record for her country, which had never before won an Olympic medal. Richardson had to settle for silver (10.87) and fellow American Melissa Jefferson (10.92) was bronze.
Prior to this gold, Alfred’s greatest successes were the titles at this year’s World Indoor Championships and at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
In the semi-final, held shortly before the final, Alfred had already warned Richardson, dominating her in that race, in which both qualified without complications.
In the final, a slow start by the Texan cost her too much and she was unable to make up for lost ground against Alfred, who stole the show in the rain at the Stade de France.
The United States will have to continue to wait to regain its Olympic gold in the most important speed event, which has eluded it since Gail Devers triumphed on home soil in Atlanta in 1996.
For Richardson, this silver is her first Olympic medal in her debut in the event, three years after she missed the Tokyo event due to testing positive for cannabis.
He will not compete in the 200 metres, for which he did not qualify, and his only hope of winning Olympic gold now depends on his country’s 4×100-metre relay team.
Alfred succeeds Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah as Olympic queen of the straight linewinner of this event in 2016 and 2021 but a notable absentee in this edition due to an untimely injury during preparation.
Jamaican Shericka Jackson also announced on Wednesday that she was giving up the 100 meters to focus on the 200 meters and the veteran and legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Prycewho at 37 years old is competing in her fifth and final Olympic Games, was absent from the semi-final due to an issue that has not yet been resolved: apparently, she was not allowed to compete because she did not arrive at the stadium on official transport.
The only Jamaican to run in the final, Tia Clayton, had to settle for seventh and penultimate place (11.04).
Saint Lucia, a small Caribbean island located just south of Martinique, France, thus bursts onto the map of world athletics and achieves the greatest sporting success in its history.
And at 23, Julien Alfred certainly hasn’t had his last word.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
