Julien Alfred Turns the Tables on Jefferson-Wooden, and Peaks at the Right Time

Days after losing to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in Silesia, St. Lucia's Julien Alfred beat the American over 100m in Zurich, with Sha'Carri Richardson third. For a region that measures itself in tenths of a second, the timing could not be better.

At the Zurich Diamond League on August 27, Julien Alfred of St. Lucia beat Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the United States in the women's 100m, avenging her defeat to the same rival in Silesia only days before. Sha'Carri Richardson took third. Alfred ran a national record in the process, the fastest time ever by a St. Lucian.

The rivalry has become the one to watch in women's sprinting. Alfred, St. Lucia's first Olympic champion, and Jefferson-Wooden have traded victories through the season, and each meeting now carries the weight of a title decider heading into the campaign's climax.

For the Caribbean the win is more than a line in a results sheet. A St. Lucian beating the best of the United States, on a European track, in front of the world, is proof the region's sprint pipeline still produces the fastest women alive. It is also an asset in the sense the Ledger has written about before, a global earner with the appearance fees, endorsements and future income that the smartest athletes learn to build a life on.