Julien Alfred

Julien Alfred (born 10 June 2001) is a Saint Lucian sprinter. She won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres event, setting a new national record of 10.72s in the final. Her medal was the first-ever Olympic medal for Saint Lucia. She then won a silver in the 200 metres. Alfred also won the gold medal in the 60 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.

Alfred was a silver medalist in the 100 metres at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She is the joint North American indoor record holder for the 60 metres, and was the first woman in NCAA history to break the seven-second barrier over the 60 m. Alfred is a three-time individual NCAA Division I champion.

Biography Alfred was born in the south Castries community of Ciceron. Her father died when she was 12 years old. She attended Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School in Saint Lucia (2013–2015) and St. Catherine High School in Jamaica (2015–2018). She then pursued a bachelor's degree in Youth & Community Studies at the University of Texas in the United States, combining academic studies and athletics.

Alfred was a Central American and Caribbean U15 champion in 2015. Both that year and in 2017, she was recognised as Saint Lucia's Junior Sportswoman of the Year. As a junior athlete, she was the Commonwealth Youth Games 100 m champion in 2017, when the Games were held in Nassau, Bahamas. She also captured silver in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina behind Nigeria's Rosemary Chukwuma.

2022: NCAA Division I and Caribbean Games champion In 2022, Alfred had the all-time best NCAA performance in the 60 m at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, running a fast 7.04 s in the heats. Then at the age of 21, she became one of the top 30 fastest women ever. Her run of 10.81 s (+1.7 m/s) in preliminaries of the women's 100 m at the Big 12 Conference Championships in Lubbock, Texas on 14 May was a Saint Lucia national and championship record. It also marked her as the fastest woman ever from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. At the time, only six Caribbean women had ever run faster, and in the NACAC region 17. The same month, she ran a wind-aided 10.80 s (+2.2 m/s) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round - the fastest time ever recorded under any conditions at the event. She won the 2022 NCAA Division I 100 m title in 11.02 s (+0.2 m/s) the day after her 21st birthday, completing an unbeaten collegiate season in that event. Running for the University of Texas, she became the first track athlete from Saint Lucia to win a Division I championship, and just the second Saint Lucian overall, after high jumper Jeanelle Scheper. She next went on to win her event at the inaugural Caribbean Games in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe in a time of 11.07 seconds (−0.2 m/s).

2023: North American 60 m record On 25 February 2023, Alfred broke for the fourth time existing collegiate record and became the first woman in NCAA to ever dip under 7 seconds over the 60 metres with a time of 6.97 s at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, TX. Her time moved her up to eighth on the world all-time list. She also achieved the second-fastest all-time collegian mark in the 200 m of 22.26 s, behind only Abby Steiner, to become the fourth-fastest woman of all time. On 11 March at the NCAA Indoors in Albuquerque, New Mexico (at altitude), Alfred improved at both these events with times of 6.94 s and 22.01 s respectively to take both titles and move to second on both respective world all-time lists. With "the greatest ever one day sprint double", Julien went on to compete in the women's 100m race at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial, crossing the finish line with a time of 10.89 seconds, resulting in a victory over sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson.

After the end of the 2022–23 academic year, Alfred and TCU football star Max Duggan were named as Big 12 Conference Athletes of the Year.

Selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, she qualified for the final of the 100 metres and finished in fifth place. She also competed in the 200 metres at the Championships, and qualified for the finals and finished fourth.

2024: Olympic and World Indoor titles She won gold in the women's 60 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, with a world leading time of 6.98 seconds. It was Saint Lucia's first ever World Athletics Indoor Championship medal.

She finished second in the 100 metres at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in a time of 10.93 seconds. Alfred ran a lifetime best and equalled the stadium record in the women's 100 metres at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica on 1 June 2024, running 10.78 seconds. On 12 July, she won the 100 metres in 10.85 seconds at the Herculis Diamond League event in Monaco. Alfred set a new national 200 m record of 21.86 seconds as she finished second behind Gabrielle Thomas at the Diamond League meeting in London on 20 July.

She won gold in the women's 100 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with a national record time of 10.72 seconds, which earned Saint Lucia its first-ever Olympic medal. She also secured a silver medal in the 200 metres with a time of 22.08 seconds, finishing behind Gabrielle Thomas. Following the Olympics, Alfred won the 100 m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels on 13 September, clocking 10.88 s.

Alfred's victory in the Olympics sparked celebrations in Saint Lucia, with the government subsequently declaring 27 September 2024 as "Julien Alfred Day".

2025: World 100 m bronze Alfred won the 100 metres in a meeting record 10.75 seconds (+0.9 m/s) in Stockholm at the BAUHAUS-galan event, part of the 2025 Diamond League, on 15 June. She ran 10.77 seconds to finish second to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the 100 metres at the Prefontaine Classic on 5 July into a headwind (-1.5 m/s). She ran a 21.71, the joint-ninth fastest of all time, to win the 200 m at the 2025 London Athletics Meet. She ran 10.76 seconds to win the 100 metres at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on 28 August.

In September, she was a bronze medalist in the 100 metres at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, running 10.84 seconds in the final.

2026: 100 m and 200 m national records On 13 February, Alfred went into an early world lead with 6.99 seconds for the 60 metres at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, winning ahead of Jacious Sears. Competing at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland on 21 March, Alfred won the bronze medal in the 60 metres, running 7.03 seconds to finish three thousandths of a second behind silver medalist Jacious Sears, with both behind Zaynab Dosso. Julien Alfred after winning the women’s 100 m at 2026 Weltklasse Zürich. On 4 June, Alfred won ahead of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the women's 200 metres at the 2026 Diamond League event in Rome, running 21.93 seconds. The following week, she won over 100 metres in a wind-assisted Diamond League race in Oslo. On 10 July, she ran a national record of 21.51 seconds to win the 200 metres at the Herculis Diamond League event in Monaco. The time moved her to third on the world all-time list behind only Florence Griffith Joyner and Shericka Jackson. On 14 July, she won over 100 metres at the István Gyulai Memorial, in Budapest, running 10.87 seconds into a headwind. Competing at the London Athletics Meet on 18 July, Alfred won the 200 m in a meeting record 21.66 (+0.1) ahead of Gabby Thomas, for her third win in nine days.

On 23 August, she competed over 100 metres and ran a season's best time of 10.83 seconds (0.6m/s) to finish runner-up to Jefferson-Wooden in the Diamond League at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Silesia, Poland. On 27 August, she edged ahead of Jefferson-Wooden in a photo-finish to win in a new national record of 10.70 seconds for the 100 metres at the Weltklasse Zürich, despite a headwind (-0.7).

Achievements International competitions

NCAA titles NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships 100 metres: 2022 4 × 100 m relay: 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships 60 metres: 2023 200 metres: 2023

Recognition USTFCCCA Women's Indoor National Track Athlete of the Year: 2023 Big 12 Athlete of the Year: 2023