"Sometimes we didn't have running shoes" - Julien Alfred shares struggles and motivation behind historic 100m gold medal victory at Paris Olympics

By Marie Amani

Modified Aug 20, 2024 14:35 GMT

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Julien Alfred had a successful Paris Olympic Games where she became the first athlete to claim Olympic medals for her country, Saint Lucia. However, her journey to the top has not been a walk in the park as she had to struggle to afford basic training gear.

Competing at the Stade de France in the women's 100m final, Alfred defeated Sha'Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson to win the title in a national record time of 10.72 seconds. Richardson and Jefferson settled for second and third in respective times of 10.87s and 10.92s.

In the 200m final, the 23-year-old finished an impressive second in a time of 22.08s behind Gabby Thomas who timed 21.83s. Another American, Brittany Brown, completed the podium with 22.20s.

In an interview recently, Alfred narrated her tough upbringing that propelled her to fight for top spots at the Olympic Games.

"It comes from my own story, the struggles growing up. Sometimes we didn't have running shoes," she said (via Virgin Islands Consortium).

Alfred’s athletics journey started when she was nine years old but the loss of her father, who was one of her greatest cheerleaders, almost ended her career. She was at this time under the tutelage of Cuthbert Modeste who coached a track club named "Survivors."

She revealed that on top of her supporter passing away, her family struggled financially and she was forced to leave the camp. However, coach Modeste ensured her talent did not go to waste:

"I actually stopped running in grade six when my dad passed away in 2013 and then Twa Ti Né came back to look for me in Ciceron. He came to Ciceron, he looked for me to come back," Alfred said.

"He waited for me at the Ciceron bus stop every single time, and took me to the Mindoo Phillip Park for training," she added.

Alfred also said that she felt the pressure of the island nation's hopes that rested on her shoulder:

"I felt like, 'look at my country celebrating me, I have to go to the Olympics and do the exact same thing. Each time I step on the track, my country is watching.'"

However, she was able to instead focus on the positive side of those hopes:

"whether or not I won a medal, just getting the country together, makes me feel proud that I was able to do that," she said.

Having not lived in her country for nearly a decade, Alfred's plans for her short-term future include "going back to her roots":

“Even before I won the gold at the Olympics, I was talking about how much I need to go back home and go back to what I know - go back to my roots and just relax.”

At her global championship debut at the 2022 World Championships, the Saint Lucian was disqualified in the women's 100m semifinal for starting 0.095 seconds after the gun. She then raced at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing fifth in the women's 100m final and fourth in the women's 200m final.

Alfred opened her 2024 season with a win in the 60m dash at the World Indoor Championships before asserting her authority at the Paris Olympic Games.

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Julien Alfred recounts what cost her a gold medal in women’s 200m at Paris Olympics

Julien Alfred at the 2024 Paris Olympics - Source: Getty

After winning the gold medal in the women’s 100m at the 2024 Summer Games, Julien Alfred was highly motivated to go for gold in the 200m too.

However, she was pipped by Gabby Thomas in the hotly contested final. Following her outing at the 2024 Olympics, the world indoor 60m champion shared that she did not have enough rest heading into the final.

Alfred added that she felt her execution of the race cost her the gold medal:

"I don't want to have any excuses whatsoever, but I'm human as well. Six races in five days was a lot, with no break at all. Coming off the turn, I think my execution was poor…I just really had to dig so hard for that silver medal at that point," Alfred said.

With the Olympic Games 2024 now behind her, the 23-year-old will shift her focus to the Diamond League meet in Zurich on September 5 and the finals scheduled for September 13 and 14 in Brussels.