“Juju’s” Perfect Anchor Leg
How the 100m came full circle and 10.72 seconds united a nation
Saturday August 3rd 2024 was the culmination of two decades of work for Julien Alfred. The 23-year-old stormed to victory in the women’s 100 metre final at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics in 10.72 seconds. The time, her new personal best and a Saint Lucian national record, is the fourth fastest legal time ever run by a woman at the Olympics. It probably takes you longer to tie your shoes.
Alfred’s winning margin of .15 seconds is the largest in the women’s side of the event at the Olympics this century. It’s the largest in the 100 metres since Usain Bolt waltzed to his first gold at Beijing 2008, with a then world record time of 9.69 seconds. If that’s not impressive enough, the gap between first and last in the men’s 100m final was .12 seconds. The entire men’s field can fit between her and second, with .03 seconds to spare.
Yet, what Julien Alfred accomplished on that rainy evening in France, and three days later when she claimed silver in the 200m, is so much more than “just” an incredible athlete achieving her life’s dream at her first Olympic games. Standing atop the podium basking in the glory of the gold medal around her neck, her national anthem echoing around the stadium and her flag rising above the star-spangled banner, she completed the first chapter in Saint Lucia’s Olympic journey.
With the benefit of hindsight, Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medal coming in the women’s 100m is perfect and Alfred winning two medals seems like it was predestined.
Saint Lucia seems to be a land of pairs. We have two Nobel Laureates and they share a birthday. We have the Pitons, the majestic twin volcanic spires rising from the ocean on the island’s west coast. We have two languages and share a sisterhood of sorts with Dominica, so it counts here.
Historically, we had two colonial masters and two capitals. The current one, Castries, burned down twice in the 19th century and twice again in the 20th century. When a German submarine snuck into the Castries harbour in 1942, towards the end of the Second World War, it bombed two ships. Now we have two Olympic medals.
It was always going to be this way.
None of that tale of twos is to diminish Alfred’s incredible heart and fighting spirit. Running in the 200m final, her sixth race in five days, Alfred tried to do something only three women have done before: take gold in both the 100m and 200m at the same Olympic games. She wasn’t on the podium after 80 metres. But, the world indoor 60m champion fought her way to the second step, making my preamble about pairs look as obvious as the sun rising in the east.
Moving from what was won and looking at who did the winning we meet a very smug hindsight again.
Our planet has 195 countries but only one is named after a woman. The tiny Caribbean nation in question has had at least one female athlete at every summer Olympics since first participating in 1996. The athlete who has appeared at the most games (four) for the ‘Helen of the West’ is Levern Spencer, a woman. Put that all together and Saint Lucia’s first medal being won by a woman is almost as perfect as it gets. The fact it was gold seems to be a Caribbean thing, but we will leave that for another time.
However, it actually does get more perfect. Let’s go back to the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics.
Saint Lucia’s first appearance at a summer Olympic games saw the country send six athletes, only one of which was a woman; Michelle Baptiste. At just 18 years old, she was the island’s first flag bearer. In 1995, prior to her Olympic debut, she won gold in long jump at the CARIFTA Games (U-20). Then, just two weeks before the 1996 Olympics, she won silver in long jump at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20). But, due to a withdrawal, she didn’t jump in Atlanta. The only event Saint Lucia’s first female Olympian participated in was the women’s 100 metre sprint.
So, let’s make a full circle, or to be topical, one lap around the track.
28 years after Michelle Baptiste did it first, Julien Alfred ran the 100m representing the only country in the world named after a woman. She won Saint Lucia’s first Olympic medal; a glittering gold. Three days later, she won another medal. In 32.8 seconds, the combined time from her 100m and 200m finals, she completed the first chapter in her country’s nearly three-decade Olympic journey.
Perfection.
Outside of the athletics world, the most impressive part of Alfred’s achievement is the way she has unified her people. Videos of crowds of Saint Lucians watching her races, shouting support at the screen and celebrating as she crossed the line emerged online in the hours and days after her victory. In the almost two months since, the celebrations haven’t stopped.
Julien Alfred returned to her little island on Tuesday, September 24 2024 and was met by seemingly the entire population. Saint Lucians lined the main road from Vieux Fort, the most southern district, to Gros Islet, the most northern district, so they could greet her. They danced, waved and chanted her name as she was driven past.
To the world she is the world indoor 60m champion, the Olympic 100m champion and the Diamond League 100m champion. To Saint Lucians, she is their champion. She chose to represent them on the global stage and they unabashedly adore her in return. She is the inspiration for paintings, murals, drawings, songs and articles at home with a statue still to come. She has been chosen as Saint Lucia’s latest tourism ambassador and September 27 is now named in her honour.
To the world she is Julien Alfred. To her people she is “Juju”
Her accomplishments are bright spots in a year when gun and gang violence has hung over the country like Hurricane Tomas in October 2010. It’s amazing to see how quickly this incredible achievement by this incredible athlete has brought together the approximately 180,000 people on the island. Alfred has done what all politicians and leaders strive to do. She has given her people a reason to be proud, to celebrate, to cheer, to support, to be united. They may never achieve this after years in the job. It only took “Juju” 10.72 seconds.