Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred sets new record at Tiger Paw Invitational in US

Saint Lucia: Olympic gold medallist Julien Alfred has set another record during this season at the Tiger Paw Invitational in South Carolina in the United States on Friday. The 23-year-old sprint queen set a new national indoor 400 metres record after crossing the finish line in just 52.97 seconds in Heat 4.  

Julien Alfred now holds National Records in the 60m, 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m. The Olympic Gold medallist who won the gold (100m) and silver (200m) medal at Paris Olympics, managed to push herself through 20th position in the 400-metre category at the Tiger Paw Invitational.  

Although this was the first time that Alfred participated in the 400-meter category, but having finished 20th among a deep field of professional and collegiate athletes makes her this achievement more impressive.  

During her race, Alfred split 25.01 seconds at the halfway mark before closing in just 27.97 seconds and finishing the race in a total of 52.97 seconds. The fastest time of the meet was posted by Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler who finished the race in 50.85 seconds.  

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Julien Alfred 🇱🇨 breaks the St. Lucian 400m Indoor Record in Clemson, clocking a time of 52.97s at the Tiger Paw Invitational.<br><br>She now holds National Records in the 60m, 100m, 200m, 300m &amp; 400m(i).<br><br>Her training partner, Dina Asher-Smith 🇬🇧 ran a PB of 52.31s to win her section. <a href="https://t.co/Gri3rfPyUR">pic.twitter.com/Gri3rfPyUR</a></p>&mdash; Track &amp; Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrackGazette/status/1890498888638910490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Julien Alfred’s performance comes just days after she set a new national record in the category of 300 meters at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, where she finished the race in 36.16 seconds, breaking her own national record and clocking the 15th fastest time in the event’s history. 

So far for the 2025 season, Alfred has run twice and set national records, marking a great start to the season. 

Following her second victory, the athlete said that she is looking forward to excelling throughout this season, making her country even more proud. She also revealed that she has been challenged by her coach Edrick Floreal to run longer events this year to help build her speed endurance in preparation for the outdoor season.  

Notably, Alfred is the holder of women’s 100 metre and 200 metre national records, which she set at the 2024 Paris Olympics where she won Saint Lucia’s first Olympic gold and silver respectively at the international games. Following this achievement, the government of Saint Lucia announced her as the brand ambassador, marking another milestone in her list of achievements.