A picture worth a thousand words: Little girl's awe of Julien Alfred's Olympic medals ignites belief of Saint Lucia brewing more Olympians

Saint Lucia's Olympic hero Julien Alfred has been making news headlines globally following the grand reception she received as her homecoming.

The world's most decorated female sprinter in the 2024 season became Saint Lucia's first Olympic champion in history after defeating pre-championship favorite Sha'Carri Richardson in the 100m final by blazing to the finish line in a new personal best of 10.72s.

Not resting on her oars, the 23-year-old claimed the silver medal in the 200m event behind Gabby Thomas, thus leaving Paris with two medals in her Olympic debut.

Aside from this, she blazed to the world 60m title at the world indoor championships in Glasgow to become her country's first-ever world champion in any sport and closed off her exceptional 2024 year by winning the Diamond League 100m title in Brussels.

Following her iconic breakout season, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia Philip J. Pierre announced September 27 as “Julien Alfred Day,” a national holiday in her honour as the pride of their country.

And for her homecoming, Alfred was treated to a heroic welcome right from the airport as Saint Lucia came to a standstill to honour their legend and icon who has brought so much attention to the Caribbean country of just over 180,000 population after her Olympic exploits.

Amid the celebrations, the talented speedster was captured with a female child admiring her Olympic medals hung on her neck. This emotional moment has got track fans in awe of how much Alfred's accomplishment will inspire generations in Saint Lucia as more youngsters will now dream of achieving greater feats as Olympians.

An X user @758sunshine wrote: "This is a fantastic shot! A picture really is worth a thousand words."

A second user @VintageLips2 wrote: "This needs to be in the upcoming history books."

@mrbeefy_jr also affirmed the sentiments giving props to the photographer: "I saw A LOT of pics of Julien. But u see the one she walking with the lil girl holding the medal.. that's a million-dollar photo, props to whoever shot that."

Alfred's historic 2024 season is just a testament to her talent which she'll be aiming to continually refine in the coming years as she journeys her way to sprint greatness in world history.