Julien Alfred and Sha’Carri Richardson have been all over the headlines because of their epic sprint battle in the women’s 100m finals at the Stade de France. The Saint Lucian runner defeated all odds to win over her American rival, and while many expected their rivalry to grow, Alfred revealed that Richardson is no less than a peer and someone with whom she enjoys her company apart from their battles on track.

Recently, ‘Juju’ has been more open about her life in or out of athletics. She has revealed many instances that have brought her alongside the big names of the sport, and all about her journey is inspiring to many out there. However, Alfred still had a few words that she wanted to confess to a smaller version of herself.

An Olympic champion’s honest confession

Julien Alfred has been to a lot of interviews after making history at the Paris Olympics, as she brought Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. While her popularity has increased a ton, she hasn’t forgotten her origins or the things that propelled her to her current fame, owing to her athletic prowess. Recently, she joined an interview with FloTrack, who also invited American athlete Jasmine Moore, as Nia Gibson, the host of the podcast, had a ton of questions about their track and field endeavor.

In between their conversation, Gibson imposed a question, as she wanted to know about a certain statement that Alfred wanted to share with her younger self. “Wow! There are so many things I can say,” said the Saint Lucian sprinter after taking a deep breath and continuing, stating, “To my younger self, I would just say never give up. Because, I mean, it’s going to get hard. Um, there will be times where you feel like you’ll throw in the towel, especially when you just don’t know what life will throw at you sometimes, and there will be sacrifices that you will have to make along the way.”

There was a lot she wanted to convey in her message, but she stuck to a major motive, which was never to give up. Julien Alfred has been through a lot of ups and downs, and with her extensive expertise backed up by her Olympic champion status, she has emphasized being open to hardships and embracing life’s numerous challenges, whether it is in sports or outside of it. Gibson and Moore were impressed by the statement made by Alfred, as the American athlete stated that she also had a similar insight into her own track and field career.

Surely, she is an Olympic champion now, but Alfred’s life wasn’t a lot easier before. Her father, Julian Hamilton, passed away when she was just 12 years old, and it was a big hit to her mental health. Recently, she also recalled how he used to dream about his daughter becoming an Olympian in the future. So, having a big support system go away due to fate’s cruel turn was no easy thing to handle for a young Julien Alfred. However, she kept on with the things that were going on in her life and continued to focus on building her junior career.

She participated in many races, and ‘Juju’ found herself to be one of the best out there in the junior categories. And the moment she had her breakthrough in the sport, she never disappointed her fans with her impressive performances. Eventually, participating in a lot of track meets created a certain competitive mentality in her, but apart from that, she appreciates her peers, especially someone like Sha’Carri Richardson.

Julien Alfred’s insights on her competitors

Chasing the Olympian dream, Alfred snatched that gold medal out of fan-favorite Sha’Carri Richardson’s hand in the women’s 100m finals at the Paris Olympics. It was one of the biggest achievements of her stellar career, and this dominant run made many community members assume that the two athletes will be having a fierce rivalry beyond just track. However, when it comes to being competitive, Alfred only thinks about the grid she is present on and a way to defeat them, but it’s a completely different person when she is beyond that.

“Whenever I see my competitors, I do say hi to them. On Instagram, if somebody posts a picture, I’ll respond to them—same vice versa. Um, we’ll have a quick chat in our DMs as well. Sha’Carri, she’s a very sweet person to me, and so I don’t have any issues with her,” the Saint Lucian runner revealed, speaking to Sky’s Jacquie Beltrao. There are a ton of people she interacts with, but Richardson has a special place for Julien Alfred. Even though they are running for that crown in the women’s category, they are just peers who support each other whenever they get a chance.