When Julien Alfred was a young girl in St Lucia, she was asked who she wanted to be when she grew up. “The next Usain Bolt,” she replied. It was the boldest of ambitions, given that her tiny country had never won an Olympic medal and barely had any facilities. Yet on a delirious night in Paris, the 23-year-old delivered in the manner of the greatest sprinter of all-time: by powering away from US superstar Sha’Carri Richardson to claim Olympic gold.
As Alfred crossed the line in 10.72sec, a time that made her the eighth fastest woman in history, she held her hands in disbelief before ripping her bib off and pointing to her name. No one, surely, will ever forget it now after this quiet destruction.
