"You could feel the energy all the way in Paris"- Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian reacts to Saint Lucia's celebration of Julien Alfred's win

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Aug 04, 2024 08:48 GMT

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently extended his congratulations to Julien Alfred for securing Saint Lucia's first-ever gold medal. Alfred achieved this feat at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics.

Alfred stunned crowd favorite Sha'Carri Richardson to clinch the gold medal in the 100m, clocking a remarkable time of 10.72 seconds. Richardson followed in second place with 10.87 seconds while Melissa Jefferson secured the bronze medal with 10.92 seconds.

With her victory, Alfred became the first athlete to clinch an Olympic medal for her country. Part of a five-member Saint Lucian athlete team in Paris, she is the first athlete to achieve the glorious feat for her country and garnered praise from around the world.

Serena Willliams' husband, Alexis Ohanian took to social media to extend his praise. He re-shared a video of fans from Saint Lucia celebrating her victory in her homeland and acknowledged their palpable enthusiasm. The fans were stoked over the sprinter's feat.

"You could feel the energy all the way in Paris - such a moment for Saint Lucia," he wrote. "@Julienalfred7 congrats on bringing home your nation's first ever gold," Ohanian wrote on his X handle.

Alfred's victory marked the nation's first medal-winning Olympic campaign since their debut in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

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Alexis Ohanian helps Team USA discus thrower Veronica Fraley pay off her rent before she competes in the Paris Olympics

Alexis Ohanian paid off Veronica Fraley's rent after the thrower faced financial setbacks. (Images by Getty)

Alexis Ohanian extended his help to Veronica Fraley after the latter opened up about her financial difficulties.

A day before competing in her debut Games, Fraley talked about facing difficulty covering her expenses, claiming that her school sent only 75% of the rent and also criticized the system for paying huge amounts to football players.

"I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent," she wrote. "My school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven’t won anything) enough to buy new cars and houses."

After a few fans tagged the American rapper Flavor Flav and Reddit co-founder Ohanian, the duo stepped in to help the Vanderbilt University's graduate student.

"C'mon now! I'll split it with @flavorfav," Ohanian wrote.

"Update! It is done," Ohanian commented after making the payment.

While Flav reportedly paid off the discus thrower's month's rent, Ohanian sent Fraley $7,760 to cover the rent for the whole year.