2024-08-04 02:13:44
It must be Sha’Carri Richardson’s night. Twenty-eight years later, the United States finally regained the title of Olympic champion in the 100m which removed them from 1996 and the victory of Gail Divers. In the rain and in the wind that arose late in Saint-Denis, it was finally to the Caribbean that this gold medal went again.
As in the semi-finals an hour earlier, the impressive Julien Alfred, 22 years old and originally from Saint Lucia, won against the super-elite American by crossing the lines at 10″72. For the first major sporting event at the Stade de France, he made history by becoming the first Olympic medalist from a small state of 200,000 inhabitants. “I’m still trying to believe that what just happened is real,” he confided an hour after the race, clutching his country’s turquoise flag. I really focus on how I should work, this is my time. »
Having left his island at the age of 14 to join Jamaica, the land of diamonds, Julien Alfred was inspired by the greatest to shine. “This morning I woke up and watched videos of Usain Bolt’s races in the Olympics,” he smiled. Waking up at 5 am, he even began to dream about this title and wrote in one of his notebooks: “Julien Alfred, Olympic Champion. »
“I want young people to believe that they can get out of the ghetto”
The prediction came true a few hours later, student Edrick Floreal in Texas, who has long shone in the NCAA college environment, began to appreciate his success. “I hope that with this medal, a new stadium can be built in Saint Lucia,” he explained. I want you to help the youth of my country, I want the youth to believe in the fact that they can get out of the ghetto. »
Frustrated with his fifth place at the World Championships in Budapest a year ago, Julien Alfred relied on his coach to shine this season and in particular won the world title in the 60m indoor race, already ahead of Sha’Carri Richardson. “Coach Flo allowed me to believe that I could become an Olympic champion,” he said. He was like a father to me, a mentor. You believe in me and that’s why I’m here tonight. Yesterday (Friday) I was a little nervous but today I just have to go and have fun. »
To his right, as in the series, Sha’Carri Richardson can only notice the superiority of his opponent of the day, in the forefront from the start of the race. Three years after the Tokyo Games, which he missed due to a short suspension after testing positive for marijuana, the American hopes to make people forget this painful event, after the death of his biological mother.
Richardson and Fraser-Pryce stood for a few minutes outside the warm-up stadium
“I’m not back, I’m fine,” he likes to repeat since he’s at the front again. It is very far from the best time of the season (10 “87 against 10 “71), the star of the new Netflix documentary on the sprint does not seem to be able to win. It remains to be seen if you are confused before your final. According to videos shared on social networks, the world champion was slow to enter the warm-up stage because he was stuck on the other side of a gate.
Mishap Revisited by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The Jamaican, a two-time Olympic champion, withdrew minutes before his semi-final. In a video posted on social media, he is seen complaining that the rules have “changed”. “We used to get this gate, but now they say that the athletes who go can’t use it,” he added near the enclosure.
But to the Reuters news agency, Jamaican chef Ian Kelly confirmed that it was finally due to “an injury he suffered during his last heat” that won the Tokyo silver medal and did not show.
At 37, Fraser-Pryce is participating in her last Olympic Games in Paris. It remains to be seen if he will be able to get a new medal on this in a few days. As for Julien Alfred, he can dream of writing a new page in history in the 200m. He will be back on track this Sunday for the series. “I am sure the people of Saint Lucia have watched and are celebrating this medal,” he concluded. This winter, after his world title, he was welcomed as a hero at the airport. The welcome promises to be even bigger in the coming days.
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