Julien Alfred has opened up on the major shift she made that earned her victory over Sha’Carri Richardson in the women’s 100m at the Paris Olympics.
At the Paris Olympic Games, Alfred was no fluke as she stunned Richardson, a huge favourite to win the race. The St. Lucien athlete clocked a stunning national record time of 10.72 seconds ahead of Richardson who timed 10.87 seconds. Melissa Jefferson completed the podium, clocking 10.92 seconds.
Last season, Alfred struggled to make an impact at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing fourth in the women’s 200m and fifth in the 100m. She noticed that there were changes she had to make and worked on that this season.
“Less races…you know last year I had the NCAA season and you know I don’t have any trials. So, I just prepared for the Olympics and that was the biggest difference compared to other athletes and last year. I love the 100m and hopefully next year, I will do better and work around that,” she disclosed at the press conference ahead of the Diamond League Meeting in Zurich.
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She added that training with quality partners like Dina Asher-Smith, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kevona Davis has been a great confidence booster, noting that training sessions are just as hard as the competitions themselves.
Alfred is still soaking in her victory at the Paris Olympics and not letting anyone pile pressure on her as she seeks to continue soaring.
“Definitely, each training session is like really high-quality, very competitive and you know training alongside Dina Asher-Smith, Rhasidat Adeleke, there’s also Kevona Davis in my camp, having a group with such athletes helped me compete at my best,” she said.
“It’s been good and I’ve really been enjoying the process and just and taking in what happened in Paris and I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”
