St. Lucia Celebrates Julien Alfred’s Historic Olympic Return

Julien Alfred, the first St. Lucian to win an Olympic medal, has already had poetry, drawings, and even a Calypso song written about her.

On Tuesday, officials also declared September 27 to be Julien Alfred Day, commemorating the 23-year-old known as “JuJu”‘s return to the eastern Caribbean island where she formerly ran barefoot.

“I’m truly lost for words,” she told Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre and other government leaders who gathered to honor her, before preparing a motorcade for thousands of restless supporters waiting outside, some of whom had traveled as far as London.

Alfred’s gold medal in the 100-meter sprint from the Summer Olympics in Paris, as well as her silver medal in the 200-meter sprint, hung around her neck.
She expressed gratitude to her mother, the government, her coach, and others, including her village.

“It did not come easily. It was definitely a rocky road. “Many days, I just wanted to give up,” she admitted.

Alfred stopped running when she was about 12 years old, after her father died. Her coach persuaded her to return, and she later moved to Jamaica as a teenager to train.

Prior to winning two Olympic medals, Alfred won a gold medal in the 60 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, also a first for St. Lucia.

At the Olympics, she ran the 100-meter race in 10.72 seconds, beating favorite Sha’Carri Richardson and dedicating the win to her father.