The women’s 100-meter dash at the Olympics is an event where legends are made and legacies are forged.
The race, simple and straightforward as it is, is one of the most compelling and highest-profile events at every Olympics, with the winner claiming the hard-earned and prestigious title of “fastest woman in the world.”
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This weekend, Julien Alfred got to realize that dream and experience the thrill that so precious few in Olympic history have.
The Saint Lucian track star won the finals of the women’s 100 Saturday at the Stade de France at the 2024 Paris Olympics , holding off American Sha’Carri Richardson to cement her place in the history of her sport and her country. Alfred’s triumph gave Saint Lucia its first-ever Olympic medal.
In the aftermath of her groundbreaking achievement, here’s more about Alfred, including her background, career, college and more:
GOLDEN: Texas' Julien Alfred is sprinting her way to track and field superstardom
Who is Julien Alfred?
Though Alfred’s accomplishment Saturday instantly transformed her into an international sports star, she entered the 100 finals as a relative unknown, at least among the casual sports fans who tune in to watch the Olympics.
In the world of track and field, however, she has been a decorated figure for several years, including at the University of Texas, where she competed from 2018 through 2023 .
Over the 2021-22 and 2022-2023 athletic seasons — her final two years as a college athlete — Alfred won the 100-meter and 4x100-meter events in the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships and the 60-meter and 200-meter events in the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Following the completion of her college career, she then beat Richardson in the 100 at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary.
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary that August, she qualified for the women’s 100 finals and finished in fifth place , 0.28 seconds behind Richardson, who won the race. Additionally, she finished fourth in the 200 , behind, in order, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and Americans Gabrielle Thomas and Richardson.
That success carried over into 2024.
She won the 60 at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March, posting a time of 6.98 seconds that gave Saint Lucia its first medal ever at the competition. At the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in May, she finished second in the 100 , just one-tenth of a second behind Richardson.
Once it came time for the Olympics, she was ready to fulfill a lifelong goal.
“Growing up, I always said I wanted to be one of Saint Lucia's first medalists ... first gold medalists,” she said to Olympics.com in August 2023 . “I'm really looking forward to going to the Olympic Games and trying to deliver at that level for my country.”
In a fateful 11-second burst, she was able to do just that.
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Julien Alfred country
Alfred was born and raised in Saint Lucia, an island nation in the Caribbean with only about 180,000 residents. Alfred is from Castries, Saint Lucia’s capital and largest city.
Julien Alfred college
Though she grew up in Saint Lucia, Alfred came to the United States for college, where she attended and competed for the track and field team at Texas.
She ran for the Longhorns from 2018-23. Over the course of her college career, she was an 11-time USTFCCCA All-America selection. After collecting her final NCAA championships, Alfred was named the 2022-23 Big 12 female athlete of the year .
Julien Alfred 100 time
Alfred won the 100 with a time of 10.72, setting a Saint Lucian national record. She finished ahead of Richardson and bronze-medalist Melissa Jefferson, both Americans who had times of 10.87 and 10.92, respectively.
Julien Alfred age
Born on June 10, 2001, Alfred is 23 years old.
Julien Alfred parents
Alfred is the daughter of Joanna Alfred and the late Julian Hamilton. Per her Texas bio, she also has a sister, Juliana Hamilton, and two brothers: Daniel and Chad Alfred.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Julien Alfred? Track star shocks Sha'Carri Richardson for Saint Lucia's first Olympic medal
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