One of the most anticipated women’s 200m races of the 2025 Diamond League circuit is set to kick off Friday at Monaco’s iconic Stade Louis II, pitting three of the world’s fastest sprinters against one another in a clash that could rewrite the year’s global rankings. The showdown centers on two familiar foes: Paris 2024 Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and Tokyo 2020 Olympic 200m gold medalist Gabby Thomas of the United States, who have faced off three times previously, with Alfred claiming her only win over Thomas at the 2023 edition of the Monaco Diamond League. Joining the elite pair is 19-year-old rising star Adaejah Hodge, a British Virgin Islands native and University of Georgia student who already holds the fastest 200m time in 2025 at 21.70 seconds. All three competitors are on track to dip under the 22-second barrier, a feat that would secure the winner the position of 2025’s world-leading sprinter in the event, with the race scheduled to get underway at 3:19 p.m. local Saint Lucian time.
Looking at the field’s current form, Thomas matched Hodge’s 21.70-second season best just last month, and her personal best of 21.60 seconds set three years ago still ranks her as the fourth-fastest women’s 200m sprinter in history. Alfred, whose personal best of 21.71 seconds dates back to the 2024 London Diamond League, has already clocked 21.86 seconds in the 2025 season, putting her well within striking distance of the top spot.
Beyond the raw stats, Alfred has opened up about her intentional approach to mental wellness and work-life balance as she prepares for her fourth career appearance on Monaco’s track. The 25-year-old Olympic champion acknowledged that her relentless drive to compete and win often leads her to push too hard, so she has built a routine of returning to her home country of Saint Lucia every month to reconnect with family and friends, decompress from the pressures of professional track, and reset mentally. This visit to Monaco holds particular personal meaning for Alfred: her first professional Diamond League race took place at Stade Louis II in 2023, where she took second place in the 200m behind Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson. She has since claimed back-to-back 100m titles at the Monaco Diamond League in 2023 and 2024, and this year she is focused on adding a 200m win to her record, as well as breaking the 22-second barrier.
After a four-week break focused on targeted training and rest, Alfred says she is entering the race in peak physical and mental condition. “I’m really excited to go out here and just see where I’m at after resting for the past four weeks,” she told reporters ahead of the event. “Since turning pro, I’ve been here multiple times. I ran my first Diamond League here, so I’m just really excited to race again. I feel good. I’m in really great shape. I went back for the past four weeks and really worked on what I had to work on. I’m in great shape physically and mentally as well, so I’m really excited to race tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the 2025 season, Alfred confirmed that she will skip the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, citing a scheduling conflict. Her focus remains fixed on two major upcoming events: the Diamond League Finals and the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships. When asked about the high-profile Ultimate Championships, Alfred said she approaches every major competition the same way to avoid performance anxiety. “I just try to look at major championships as just another race to just not psych myself out. But I’m really excited to go out there and compete to my fullest abilities,” she explained. The sprinter added that she maintains the same competitive drive regardless of whether the season is marked as a championship year or not. “I try to approach the season the exact same way as I would during a championship year, so I don’t think it’s super hard for me. I’m a very competitive person. I want to always put my best foot forward, to always go out there and just try to win. So I try not to relax and not think of it as a relaxed year and a non-championship year.”