Julien Alfred: Reviewing historic 2024 season exploits of Saint Lucia's golden girl

Many athletes dream of just getting to the final of a major championship in their rookie year, but not for Saint Lucia's golden girl Julien Alfred who had one of the greatest in history after sweeping all titles available in the 2024 season.

Following her historic breakout 2024 season, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre announced September 27 as “Julien Alfred Day” - a national holiday, after her iconic feat at the Paris Olympic Games, where she became the country's first gold medallist in history.

The 23-year-old kicked off her golden championship year at the world indoor championships in Glasgow, where she stormed to an outstanding world-leading time of 6.98s to become the World Indoor Champion, thus becoming Saint Lucia's first-ever gold medal winner in any event.

Moving outdoors in her first Olympic Games, Alfred defeated pre-championship favorite Sha'Carri Richardson in the 100m final with a blazing new personal best of 10.72s. Not resting on her oars, she claimed the silver medal in the 200m event behind Gabby Thomas, thus leaving Paris with two medals in her Olympic debut.

Finally, closing off her monumental 2024 season, she overcame a tough challenge posed by a strong field to win her first Diamond League 100m title in Brussels.

With her exceptional season, Alfred scooped all championship titles this year as the World Indoor Champion, Olympic champion, and Diamond League Champion, thereby dethroning American speed queen Richardson as the face of women's sprint in 2024 and the most decorated female sprinter of the year.

The new speed queen returned to a grand reception in Saint Lucia for her homecoming and has been making news headlines globally, having received several honours and recognition for her historic feat this season in appreciation of her record-breaking year.

The four-day homecoming celebration capped with a national holiday on September 27 - Julien Alfred Day, with the previous day's celebrations bringing Saint Lucia to a standstill in honour of their heroine.

Aside from the special day declared and other rewards, Saint Lucia's Tourism Authority announced Alfred as a Tourism Ambassador - a position that no top athlete currently has in their various countries.

The talented speedster has made Saint Lucia a tourist destination since she comfortably bagged the 100m Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics, now making millions worldwide come to know about the tiny Caribbean country with 180,000 population.

During the Olympic period, Saint Lucia also became second only to the United States regarding online searches with her fame setting the trend quite high on Google searches.