Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred ran away from American sensation, Sha’Carri Richardson, as she streaked across the finish line with relative ease in a blazing 10.72 seconds to claim first place and win her Caribbean nation’s first ever Olympic medal.
On a day of high intensity finals throughout, a packed Stade de France saw Alfred run away from Richardson with startling ease, as she streaked across the finish line in a blaze of glory, with the American sprint sensation finished in 10.87 seconds - a terrible start putting the gold all but out of reach after the first 30 meters.
With an Achilles injury sidelining Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah for most of this season, compatriot, Shericka Jackson, pulling up with a calf injury during a July tune-up race and then deciding to focus only on the 200 metres. But it was sprint superstar, and three-time Olympic gold medallist, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce whose absence was clouded in mystery.
Competing at her fifth Games at the age of 37 and the winner of two golds, a silver and a bronze over 100m, she was due to run in the second heat but appeared as a ‘DNS’ (Did Not Start) in the official start lists. Social media footage later emerged of her and Jamaican officials arguing with officials who would not let their vehicle enter.
Fraser Pryce was shown saying: "They've changed the rules. We came through this gate before but now they're saying athletes who have left can't use this gate.
“How can you change the rule and then not say? So, you’re asking all athletes who, for whatever reason don’t stay at the village, they can’t come through the gate.”
She’s been suffering from a knee injury before the start of the track events in Paris and was seen training with strapping to her right knee during a session last week. Jamaica’s team manager, Ludlow Watts, later revealed that Fraser-Pryce had withdrawn from her semi-final due to injury.
“When we got the news she was warming up and so it came as a surprise to me,” he said.
“Dr. Warren Blake is addressing the matter and we will speak further on the matter. This was a surprise and disappointment because the whole world would have loved to see Shelly in the Olympics.
“Apart from being a Jamaican, I am sure that people who love track and field would be very disappointed globally.’ Meanwhile, Alfred, a former University of Teas standout who won the 2022 and 2023 NCAA championships in the women's 100 meters, edged Richardson in Saturday's second semifinal before then beating her by a wider margin when it mattered most – in the final.
