'WHAT! My heart is pounding' - Awestruck moment Olympic champion Julien Alfred met Usain Bolt for the first time
Meeting Usain Bolt is one thing, but when he's your childhood idol, it's a whole different moment of priceless, which was how Olympic champion Julien Alfred reacted sighting the sprint legend for the first time in her life.
The sprint queen was all shades in admiration sighting the Jamaican track legend as she was about to grant an interview with Citius Mag ahead of the Oslo Diamond League.
Alfred's first reaction was in amazement at the eight-time Olympic champion, screaming: "WHAT, are you serious?...My idol, I've never met him before. My heart is pounding, I'll be right back."
The event organizer generously approached Bolt, asking if he would meet Alfred, to which he agreed, and they shared a brief moment together before taking a picture.
Alfred will later reveal what it meant to meet Bolt for the first time in her life.
"He's been my idol since I was younger, I always wanted to be just like him, and I went to school in Jamaica for three years, didn't meet him and I finally get a chance to meet him, so it's been such an honour," she said.
🗣️ “My heart is pounding…”
— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) June 11, 2025
We were just about to do an interview with 2024 Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred ahead of the Oslo Diamond League and that’s when she spotted @usainbolt and freaked out.
She had never met the eight-time Olympic gold medalist until today… pic.twitter.com/4hd3s1aKx6
At the Paris Olympic Games last summer, Alfred blazed to world recognition when she stunned world champion Sha'Carri Richardson to the 100m gold medal, to become Saint Lucia's first Olympic champion in history.
Not resting on her oars, she powered to the 200m silver medal and closed off her 2024 season by winning the Diamond League 100m title in Brussels. These are in addition to claiming the world 60m title in March, thus unarguably ending the year as the undisputed sprint queen.
This season, Alfred continued with her exceptional performances, staying undefeated in all her races and clocked the 200m world-leading time of 21.88s, just 0.02s off her personal best to win the 200m silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
She'll be making her season's Diamond League and 100m debut in Oslo and will be aiming for not just a win but sub-11s time, which will propel her into the top 10 of the world list this year.