“My motivation is to be the best in the world”

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Around 335 million people live in the USA, the country that has produced the largest number of women’s Olympic 100m champions.

Jamaica, the nation where each of the Olympic 100m gold medallists from Beijing 2008 to Tokyo 2020 was born, has a population of just over 2.8 million.

But at Paris 2024, Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, a Caribbean island with a population of just 180,000, stormed to victory in the blue ribband event of Olympic athletics.

And of course, she did not just beat the best of America and Jamaica. Her win in France’s capital earned her the title of the fastest woman on a planet of over 8 billion people.

“I’m a damn proud Lucian forever and always,” the 23-year-old said in an interview with Olympics.com, as she reflected on winning the first-ever Olympic medal in Saint Lucia’s history. “It’s always a pleasure representing my country on the global stage and putting my flag on the map — my country on the map — is always an amazing feeling.”

While Alfred is clearly proud of her against-all-odds Olympic gold, it is her time spent training as a teenager in the USA and Jamaica — the traditional breeding grounds of champions — that formed her into the world-beating athlete she is today.

“One of the reasons I went to Jamaica was because of the sprint culture,’ she said. “You know, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Usain Bolt, Elaine Thompson-Herah, all these amazing athletes. Wanting to be a part of that culture.

“And when you hear Jamaica, you know about sprinting, the top athletes. So I made a decision along with my childhood coach and my mum for me to go to Jamaica, to come to train and continue my career in track & field.”

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Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6733b04a8535495fad272363b8feaccd&url=https%3A%2F%2Folympics.com%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fjulien-alfred-exclusive-future-plans-sha-carri-richardson-rivals-world-record-&c=1531334685990359235&mkt=en-us Author : Publish date : 2024-11-12 05:20:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source .