Julien Alfred from St. Lucia won the Olympic women's 100-meter gold, defeating Sha'Carri Richardson. She made history as the first athlete from her country to win an Olympic medal.
Alfred had never podiumed in an outdoor championship before. But in the final on Saturday, he excelled and won in 10.72 seconds, despite the rain. USA's Richardson got silver (10.87 seconds), and Melissa Jefferson won bronze (10.92 seconds).
Richardson, who is currently the world champion over 100 meters, has received considerable support in his bid to become the first American since Gail Devers in 1996 to win the highly sought-after Olympic title.
However, the Texan, who is 24 years old, found herself outpaced by Alfred. He experienced a remarkable start, leading the race from the very beginning to the end, displaying exceptional speed at the Stade de France, even amidst the unfavorable weather conditions.
Alfred's gold medal was a historic first for St. Lucia at the Olympics. St. Lucia started participating in the Games in 1996. The event had an impressive audience of 69,000, which is close to the population of St. Lucia.
Alfred delivered an impressive performance, which featured a warning shot to Richardson during the semi-finals, as he crossed the finish line ahead of the American in 10.89 seconds.
The semi-final showcased a foreboding sign for Richardson, as she started off sluggishly and failed to catch up to Alfred. It was evident that Alfred maintained such a comfortable lead that she even reduced her speed while crossing the finish line to secure the gold medal.
A significant incident occurred prior to the final when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican double champion, was unable to participate in the 100-meter semi-final.
Fraser-Pryce, a seasoned athlete with five games under her belt at the age of 37, triumphed as the recipient of two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze in the highly competitive 100m events. However, despite being initially scheduled to participate in the second heat, her name unfortunately appeared as "did not start" on the official start lists.
According to several reports, it was suggested that she may have sustained an injury.
Tia Clayton, her Jamaican counterpart, expressed her profound astonishment and uncertainty regarding the situation at hand.
In an impressive display of skill and determination, Femke Bol executed a remarkable last lap, guiding the Netherlands team to a resounding triumph in the highly competitive 4x400m mixed relay event.
Bolgot started the race in fourth place, approximately 20 meters away from the leading Americans. However, in an impressive display, they closed the gap in a remarkable 47.93 seconds, overtaking American Kaylyn Brown just before crossing the finish line.
The Dutch team, comprising Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink, and Bol, achieved a remarkable time of three minutes and 7.43 seconds. Although they narrowly missed the world record set by the Americans in the heats on Friday by a mere two hundredths of a second.
The USA won the silver medal with a time of 3:07.74, while Britain secured the bronze medal with a time of 3:08.01.