Saint Lucia's Julianne Alfred won the gold medal in the women's 100m sprint at the Paris 2024 Olympics in 10.72 seconds. She became the first female athlete from Saint Lucia who win a gold medal in 100m sprint race on August 4, Sunday. USA's Sha'Carri Richardson was seen as the potential gold medal winner but she settled for silver by completing the sprint in 10.87 seconds.
USA's athletes clinch silver and bronze
The USA got two medals in the women's 100m sprint as Melissa Jefferson clinched the bronze medal by finishing the ace in 10.92 seconds. Alfred had earlier recorded the fastest time in the semi-finals to establish herself as a serious contender ahead of the big race. Earlier this year, she became the first Saint Lucian to win a medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships when she won gold in the 60m event.
Earlier, Gail Devers won gold and Gwen Torrence won bronze. Jamaican athletes have dominated this event for decades. Richardson won the US trials in 2021 but was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana. Richardson won gold at the World Championships last year with a time of 10.65 seconds.
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This is the first Olympic medal for the Caribbean nation. Alfred's final time is joint eighth on the all-time list of fastest women's 100m races at the Olympic Games. Earlier, two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew from the 100m semi-finals at the Paris Games. No immediate reason was given for Fraser-Pryce. Fans got to know about her on the scoreboard just moments before she was to race with Sha'Carri Richardson and Julian Alfred in the evening's second semifinal. The 37-year-old athlete has won gold medals in 2008 and 2012. In such a situation, she has already announced that this is going to be her fifth and last Olympics.
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