"The journey continues"- Julien Alfred pens strong message after inching closer to Melissa Jefferson's world lead

Saint Lucian track athlete Julien Alfred expressed her delight after clocking a 100m meet record time at the 2025 Stockholm Diamond League. The 24-year-old clocked a run-time of 10.75 seconds to win this event and also inch closer to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden's world lead of 10.73 seconds.

Alfred defeated the likes of Dina Asher-Smith and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith during the race, who eventually finished second and third in 10.93 and 11.00 seconds, respectively. With this victory, Alfred continued her unbeaten streak in the 2025 track season.

Just a couple of days after the event, Alfred shared a post on her Instagram handle where she expressed her happiness for this victory and the improvements she has seen. She wrote:

"10.75 in Stockholm Meeting record. Memories made. But more than the time, I’m grateful for the growth. Thankful. Focused. The journey continues."

The Saint Lucian also shared a heartfelt message for her Saint Lucian compatriots and wrote in her stories:

"To my island, St. Lucia, your strength runs through me"

Screenshot of Alfred's story featuring her message (Image via: Alfred's Instagram)

Before coming to Stockholm, Julien Alfred also had an impressive performance at the Oslo Diamond League just a few days ago. She won the 100m race after clocking 10.89 seconds, and again defeated the likes of Asher-Smith and Lou-Smith.

Julien Alfred makes her feelings known on her victory at the Stockholm Diamond League meet 2025

Reigning 100m Olympic champion, Julien Alfred, shared her thoughts after winning the 100m race at the Stockholm Diamond League meet. In an interview after her race, Alfred shared that she faced a mental blockade in training the day before her race.

Additionally, Alfred also mentioned that she is quite happy with her performance, and her coach, Edrick Floreal, helped her a lot with the mental baggage. She said (via Wanda Diamond League, 00:08 onwards);

"I'm satisfied. I know my coach gave me a plan yesterday after having a mental block in practice, but so far, so good, I have no complaints."

Speaking of her coach, Alfred further added:

"I was in my head a lot yesterday, didn't feel like my usual self but he just reassured me that I am in great shape. It (this victory) means a lot to me, moving forward, just seeing where I am at."

Following her victories in Oslo and Stockholm, Julien Alfred is set to feature at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic and will go up against the likes of Sha'Carri Richardson.

About the author

Soumik is a journalist at Sportskeeda who covers US Olympics. Currently an Honors student of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has also worked for other firms as a tennis and football content writer.

Soumik’s favorite Olympian is Michael Phelps and he believes that the eight-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer has revolutionized the spectrum of Swimming. Nonetheless, the adrenaline rush that Track & Field sports offer interests him the most; and Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold-medal victory at the 2020 Tokyo Games is his favorite moment from past Olympics.

Soumik sources data and facts from credible sources like BBC and NBC for accurate and relevant reporting, and keeps up with updates on social media and news media platforms.

He feels that covering collegiate tournaments, similar to what is done in the United States can be a good way to cover the bridge the coverage gap during the Olympics off season.

When not reporting on the latest Olympics news stories, Soumik likes to play cricket and watch movies.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl