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Who is Julien Alfred's coach Edrick Floreal? All about the former Olympian who helped the 23-year-old win Saint Lucia's first-ever Olympics medal
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, the newly minted 100m Olympic champion, trains under Canada's Edrick Floreal. The duo joined forces in 2019 and have scripted many firsts together.
Floreal was born in Gonaives, a commune in northern Haiti. The 57-year-old embarked on his track and field journey as an athlete, donning the Canadian colors in both long jump and triple jump. In his competitive career, he was present at two consecutive Olympic Games but failed to win a medal at either. His career highlights include an impressive tally of five NCAA triple jump titles and a Commonwealth Games bronze in the same event.
Floreal transitioned to coaching in the latter part of his career, assuming the role of director of track and field at Stanford University from 1998 to 2012. Subsequently, he held the position of head coach for both men's and women's cross country and track teams at the University of Kentucky for six years before joining the Texas Longhorns in 2018.
It was during his tenure at the University of Texas that Floreal began mentoring Julien Alfred, starting when she joined the school in 2019. The duo had originally met in 2018 at the Youth Olympic Games, and a few months later Alfred chose to join Texas in order to train under Floreal.
“While I was in high school in Jamaica, I watched him coach Sydney (McLaughlin-Levrone), Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, he was also coaching Keni (Harrison) at the time. Seeing him have a huge amount of great athletes, I wanted to be with a coach like that,” the sprinter told World Athletics.
Floreal swiftly recognized the immense potential in the young Saint Lucian, and Alfred flourished under his tutelage. Following an injury-plagued 2021, Alfred showcased her burgeoning talent by capturing the 2022 100m NCAA title, subsequently adding four more titles to her collection in the following year.
Julien Alfred claims gold in Paris, scripts yet another first for Saint Lucia
Julien Alfred began her Olympic year by storming into the history books of Saint Lucia, claiming the 60m Glasgow World Indoor Championships gold in March. Before her iconic 6.98s performance in the final, the nation had never won a medal at the Indoor Championships, let alone a gold.
Now, after a gold-medal-winning run in the women's 100m at the Paris Olympics, Alfred had become the first person from Saint Lucia to win an Olympic medal, of any colour, in any sport.
The reigning World Indoor Champion, Alfred, was in peak form right from the outset. She dominated the semifinals with a leading time of 10.84 seconds and carried that momentum into the final. With an explosive start, she shattered the national record, clocking an astonishing 10.72 seconds to secure victory over reigning World Champion Sha'Carri Richardson.
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