Julien Alfred is sprinting straight into track and field history. The 2025 season? She’s owning it. After grabbing Olympic gold in Paris—Saint Lucia’s first ever—she didn’t blink. Just lined up again. And ran like the wind. The 100m crown was hers, clocking 10.78 seconds, while she followed it up with a silver in the 200m, finishing in 21.91 seconds.
Two medals. One queen. Zero fear.
In 2024, she posted an eye-popping 10.78 seconds in the 100m at the Racers Grand Prix. Then in the Monaco Diamond League, she did it again, blazing through the track in 10.85 seconds. Blink and you’ll miss her. Even when she’s not first, she’s the one to beat. Rivals watch her back. Fans watch in awe. And Julien? She’s just getting started. This season, however, she’s showing a different side of her training. Shifting focus from her usual 100m to longer sprint distances like the 300m and 400m. It was her coach’s idea but Alfred is a person who enjoys a little bit of a challenge, and she knows, coaches, they know better. “My coaches have a different plan for me and I’m really just trusting that”. At the Tiger Paw Invitational this year, she ran the 400m time in 52.97s, setting the indoor record for her country. Making Alfred run longer distances surely helped build her endurance. So now when it comes to 200m? Its a no brainer that she will crush it.
Julien Alfred’s coaches were upto something. Building endurance for 400m would lead to insane results over shorter distances. Now, with her season opener over 200 meters, Alfred isn’t just back. She’s blasting away the competition. At the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville on Friday (April 19), the Saint Lucian sprint queen made it clear: she hasn’t eased up one bit. Her world-leading 21.88 seconds was more than just a victory—it was a warning.
Olympic Champion Julien Alfred Wins 200 Meters At Tom Jones Invitational
https://t.co/TX0cP7cPub pic.twitter.com/Wugfdf906X
— RunnerSpace (@runnerspace) April 19, 2025
This wasn’t just any race. It was her first 200m since the Olympic final in Paris. The field included competitors like Favour Ofili and Tamari Davis. But Julien obliterated the heat, winning by nearly half a second. It’s only April, yet she’s already flirting with her national record of 21.86.
She’s got history on repeat. Only two other women have ever run a wind-legal 200m this fast this early in the year. And Alfred owns two of those three performances. At 23, she’s building not just a season, but a legacy. There’s a reason rivals don’t just chase her—they brace for her.
Because when Julien Alfred opens her season, she doesn’t jog into it. She storms in—no mercy, no doubts, no looking back.
Is Julien Alfred paving the track for a future beyond the 200m?
While the world waits for her to explode over 100 meters again, Alfred has quietly been building something bigger. The Olympic 100m champion opened her 2025 season not with fireworks over the straight, but with grinding efforts over 300 and 400 meters. And now, that early-season grind is paying off.
Julien’s 21.88 win in the 200m at the Tom Jones Invitational didn’t come from nowhere. Rather, it was forged through a different kind of preparation. Before her Gainesville triumph, she clocked 36.16 and 36.05 in back-to-back 300m outings. Earlier still, she opened her outdoor season with a 4x400m relay leg in Austin. The blueprint here is pretty clear — train longer, finish stronger.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Women’s 100m Final – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 03, 2024. Gold medallist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia celebrates after winning the final. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Alfred stated before, “Early in the season I ran a lot more longer races, 300s, 400s.” She even added, “My coaches have a different plan for me and I’m really just trusting that.” That trust is turning into tangible dominance. Her 21.88—just 0.02 off her national record—is the second-fastest wind-legal 200m ever recorded in April. It’s also her first 200m since claiming Olympic silver in Paris.
Whether she’s prepping for a devastating 200m campaign or hinting at a long-term transition to the 400m, Alfred’s shift is strategic (and scary for her rivals). Her early season is no warmup. It’s a warning.
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