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From one Olympic champion to another, Julien Alfred opened up on the legendary words Usain Bolt left with her when they met.
Olympic champion Julien Alfred met her idol Usain Bolt for the first time in her life at the Oslo Diamond League, and it was a priceless moment the Saint Lucian sprint queen will never forget.
A day before her 100m season opener in Oslo, on Day 1 of the Bislett Games, Alfred was at the nick of granting an interview with Citius Mag before sighting the Jamaican track legend.
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The 24-year-old's first reaction was in amazement seeing the eight-time Olympic champion, before screaming: "WHAT, are you serious?...My idol, I've never met him before. My heart is pounding, I'll be right back."
One of the event organizers generously approached Bolt, asking if he would meet Alfred, to which he agreed. And they shared a brief moment before taking a picture.
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00:18 - 12.06.2025
'WHAT! My heart is pounding' - Awestruck moment Olympic champion Julien Alfred met Usain Bolt for the first time
Olympic champion Julien Alfred met her idol Usain Bolt for the first time in her life and it was a priceless moment for the Saint Lucian track queen.
Alfred will go on to win her 100m race the following day, clocking a Season's Best (SB) of 10.89s (1.1) - Her first 100m race since winning the Diamond League title in September 2024. Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith also ran an SB of 11.00s to finish second, while Dina Asher-Smith was third in 11.08s.
Speaking after the race in an interview with @LillzTIL, Alfred revealed what it meant meeting Bolt for the first time.
"Seeing what I've done now, how far I've gotten in life, I finally got a chance to like meet Usain and I think it's just such an honour," she said.
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When asked if there were any lessons Bolt said to her that kind of stuck, the sprint champion said a lot.
"I mean, I went to ask him so many questions yesterday. One thing I did ask him was, how do you move on and then continue to excel? And one thing he said was just taking one step at a time and just giving myself some grace as well. Like today, I was so proud of myself after the race," she revealed.
"Then he said to me that sometimes when we win something big like a major championship, we tend to like take every opportunity and miss practice. And I think that not missing practice is a good thing, I have a great team around me that's going to help me stay grounded and not take every opportunity presented to me. But continue to work for what I want and you know, I can't forget where I came from and what got me to this point."
Alfred is currently undefeated in all her races this season, highlighted be running a 200m world lead of 21.88s, which is just 0.02s off her personal best to win the 200m silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
Her impressive 100m victory in Oslo is just another testament to the great form she's in and the progress she's building ahead of the world championships in Tokyo this summer.
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