How Julien Alfred is shutting the noise ahead of making another Saint Lucia history at World Championships in Tokyo

Olympic champion Julien Alfred is one of the big names in track and field, and she's likely to engrave her name in the history books again with another title win at the World Championships in Tokyo next month.

Famously known as Saint Lucia's golden girl after her exploits at the Paris Olympic Games, where she won her country's first gold medal in history, the 25-year-old has been growing in leaps and bounds to become arguably the world's best sprint queen.

This season, Alfred went undefeated in the 100m and 200m events, clocking brilliant times, until she met in-form American sprint champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who outclassed her at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League in Eugene.

The duo were scheduled to clash again at the Silesia and Lausanne Diamond Leagues on August 16 and 20. However, Alfred withdrew from both meets to fine-tune her preparations for the end of the season.

She revealed to St Lucia Times that she is currently training and “working on things in preparation for the last few races.”

Consequently, she will also be working with her coach Edrick Floréal in Texas, in anticipation of a double challenge for gold next month at the World Championships in Tokyo.

On paper, Jefferson-Wooden is the fastest in the world this year, having clocked a massive Personal Best (PB) and world-leading time of 10.65s to win the 100m title at the US Championships. She also completed the 200m double in a PB and WL of 21.85s.

While Alfred remains a strong candidate for the sprint titles at the World Championships, Jefferson-Wooden will be no pushover, not forgetting defending world 100m champion Sha'Carri Richardson and 200m champion Shericka Jackson.

Alfred taking time off in August to focus on training may be the best decision, considering she has a huge task ahead in attempting to make history by becoming Saint Lucia's first world champion in athletics.

Nonetheless, the women's sprint division has shaped up nicely to produce fireworks in Tokyo, and Alfred will have her dream set at claiming the spotlight again in another global athletics championship showpiece.