Saint Lucia to celebrate Julien Alfred’s historic gold with national holiday: PM Pierre

Saint Lucia: Prime Minister Philip J Pierre during his recent interview with SportsMax unveiled plans for a holiday in honour of sprint queen Julien Alfred’s historic gold medal win in the women’s 100 m at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.

While he didn’t announce the date yet, PM Pierre outlined, “Everybody is asking me that and all I can say to them is there will be a holiday.”

“As soon as the date is confirmed, I will make an announcement but there will be a holiday,” he added.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister was among a huge crowd in Castries who watched on the big screen as Alfred ran a national record of 10.72 seconds for the gold medal in Paris. 

During his interview, he praised the 23 year old athlete and said that she had the passion in herself since childhood.

Talking about her victory, he added, “So was this something that was always shaping up for Alfred and for Saint Lucia, and that became more significant when we saw the way she ran the second heat.”

He further called her a consummate and a disciplined person and added while the island rejoice, he wants to send out a message to all the young people in the entire region, because where Saint Lucia won, so does the Caribbean and CARICOM. 

Addressing the youth to follow Alfred’s footsteps, the Prime Minister emphasized, “We need our young people to understand that the discipline with commitment and the necessary sacrifice, plus some support, you can make it to the top.”

He continued to say that he wanted to instill in the people that it is time for them to follow Alfred and other Caribbean athletes who have made remarkable achievements at Olympics Games 2024 in Paris. 

In addition to this, the Prime Minister was also asked about any strategy of Saint Lucia for athletes to which he said that in terms of exposure, the island aims to send its players to other Caribbean countries or even to international destinations such as the US. He also noted that Julien Alfred also spent quite a bit of time in Jamaica. 

“We believe in exposing our athletes, give them the best possible chance,” he outlined saying that the island just started a professional football league where there are 17 teams playing semi professional football and they also get stipend to play the game. 

Talking about his plans to expand this semi-professional football league, the Prime Minister stated that, “We want to ensure that we get coaches and the necessary psychological advice, the necessary training to expand the league.”

PM Pierre highlighted that he aims to produce more athletes like Julien Alfred in the near future for the region and for this the Ministry of Sports in collaboration with the Government of Saint Lucia will be helping the ones looking to reach new heights.