Saint Lucian sprint sensation Julien Alfred delivered a breathtaking display of speed and consistency at the Tyson Invitational on February 13th, establishing herself as the undisputed queen of the 60-meter dash this season. The Olympic champion and 2024 World Indoor gold medalist shattered meet records in both preliminary and final rounds at Arkansas’s Randal Tyson Track Center, cementing her status as the athlete to beat in the short sprint events.
During the championship preliminaries, the 24-year-old former Texas Longhorn blazed through Heat 2 with a remarkable time of 7.01 seconds, leaving formidable competitors in her wake. Her explosive start and powerful finish proved too much for Texas-based Jamaican sprinter Carleta Bernard, American Olympian McKenzie Long, and British track star Daryll Neita.
The final race witnessed an even more spectacular performance as Alfred sliced through the air with precision to clock an astonishing 6.99 seconds – the world’s fastest time this year. This achievement marked a significant milestone as Alfred had previously been one of the last two women to break the seven-second barrier at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow nearly two years prior.
With these back-to-back record-shattering runs, Alfred now possesses the top three fastest 60-meter times of the current season. Her dominance was further emphasized by twice demolishing Tiana Madison’s meet record of 7.02 seconds, which had remained unbroken since 2012.
American sprinter Jacious Sears claimed second position in the final with a respectable 7.03 seconds, though unable to match Alfred’s blistering pace. Notably, Sears and Alfred share the second-fastest 60-meter time in history at 6.94 seconds, both achieved during the 2023 season. Alfred’s latest sub-seven-second performance marks her sixth time achieving this elite benchmark, placing her second only to world record holder Irina Privalova’s thirteen sub-seven-second runs in the all-time rankings.