PARIS, Aug 4 – Saint Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred secured her country’s first ever Olympic gold medal by winning the women’s 100m final at the Paris Games on Saturday.
The 23-year-old crossed the finish line in 10.72 seconds, ahead of American Sha’Carri Richardson, who claimed silver in 10.87, Xinhua reported.
Melissa Jefferson, also of the United States, took bronze in 10.92.
“It sounds really good, it has a good ring to it,” Alfred said when asked how it felt to be an Olympic champion.
The result continued the Caribbean region’s dominance of this event, with Jamaica having won four consecutive women’s 100m Olympic titles before Saturday.
Silver was a bittersweet result for Richardson, who missed out on a place in the US squad for the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for a “chemical found in marijuana.”
The 24-year-old was the bookmakers’ favourite to win the final after storming to gold at last year’s world championships with the fifth-fastest time in history.
