Saint Lucian superstar Julien Alfred ran herself into the record books once again on Saturday. Competing at the London Athletics Meet 2024, she lowered the national record for the women's 200m by five hundredths of a second.
The 23-year-old from Ciceron produced a remarkable run of 21.86 seconds into a slight headwind of -0.6 metres per second. Her previous fastest and the former national record stood at 21.91 seconds.
Notwithstanding her amazing run, she was unable to add a second Diamond League win, after taking the top spot in Monaco 10 days ago. This time, Gabby Thomas of the USA pipped her at the line to win in 21.82 seconds. Thomas is the only woman this year to have run faster than 21.80 for the half-lap.
In the wake of her fastest run ever over this distance, and with less than a week to go before she carries Saint Lucia's flag in the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics, the World Indoor 60m champion told reporters that her focus is on the journey, not the destination.
"I felt strong in the race" she said. "I'm going back to Monaco to train and then I'm off to Paris. I'd love to get a medal in both [100m and 200m], but most importantly I just want to have fun. It's my first Games so having fun is important."
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