Julien Afred makes Saint Lucia proud once again with silver medal capture at Youth Olympic Games

Even before she was a teenager Julien Alfred’s seemed destined to be a track star and her domination at the local level left strong hints that promised she would have been a force to be reckoned with not just regionally but also on the world stage.

That journey reached another major milestone Monday when she copped the silver medal in the women’s 100 metres at the Youth Olympic Games which comes to a close in Buenos Aires Argentina on Thursday. The remarkable feat meant Saint Lucia had captured its first medal at such a prestigious event during  its third  outing.  Last year was also highly rewarding for the young sprinter, after  winning the gold medal in the same event at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas

 It also made the island one of two from the English speaking Caribbean to pick up a spot on the medals table in this year’s Youth Olympics, the other being regional powerhouses Jamaica, who had one bronze medal at that stage of the Games.

The 17 year old crossed the finish  line in her second stage race  in 11.23 for a combined 23.22 losing out on the gold medal by just two hundredths of a second to Nigerian Rosemary Chukuma.  Gabriela Analie Suarez of Ecuador won bronze.

” My dad passed away five years  ago and he always hoped to see me compete here today, ”  Alfred said after her medal run.  She stated  that it was a bitter sweet moment for her as October 17 would have been his birthday and that she had travelled to Argentina mere days after the passing of her aunt.