Since qualifying for the Olympics in 2021 only to be barred from competing, American sprinting star Sha’Carri Richardson had waited three years for her second chance at a golden moment.
Instead, Saturday night inside Stade de France, it belonged to Julien Alfred.
Racing in a downpour, Alfred seized the lead from her first strides and was never seriously challenged while winning in 10.72 seconds to earn the first Olympic medal in any sport for Saint Lucia, a country of 180,000.
Richardson was second in 10.87 while Melissa Jefferson, one of Richardson’s two training partners in Clermont, Fla., earned bronze for the U.S. in 10.92.
“I was hoping for a higher place,” Jefferson said. “It was my first games and I was still able to come out with a medal so I can’t complain about that.”
It was a repeat of the semifinal earlier Saturday night when Alfred also beat Richardson convincingly behind a strong start. Richardson was hampered in both races for that reason. She was only two-hundreds of a second slower than Alfred over the final 50 meters, but by then, the gap between her and gold was already too large. After just 10 meters Alfred’s lead over Richardson was already 0.07 a gulf, in sprinting terms.
The result was a contrast to the previous year, when Richardson earned the title of world champion in the 100-meter in Budapest while Alfred, in her first year as a professional after a decorated NCAA career at Texas, struggled through what she called a “disappointing” debut. She had a tendency to “panic” at the end of her races.
“I think my coach really got me together, and he made me believe that I could be an Olympic champion,” Alfred said
