Winning Olympic gold is one thing. Learning to carry it without it weighing you down is another. Julien Alfred arrived in Oslo healthier, happier, and more trusting of herself than ever, and the 100m field felt every bit of that mindset shift. The Saint Lucian has been working harder than ever, but it’s what she’s doing off the track that’s quietly becoming her biggest weapon.

The 24-year-old clocked 10.76 (+3.2), flying past Amy Hunt (10.99) and Zoe Hobbs (11.03) despite Hobbs being the best out of the blocks. Alfred, who has been on fire in 2026, asserted her dominance, pushing to the front well before the 30m mark and never letting up. Now, after her sizzling run in Oslo, the sprinter believes her focus on inner peace and trust is what has made the difference.

“I am healthy, and I am happy to get the win here,” Alfred said after the race. “I would say I am trusting myself a lot more. And I am having so much more fun. Before I came here, my mental coach said to me: ‘When you be yourself, it is the most powerful thing that you can do.’

“And I think I learn more and more from my experiences. As long as I come in the finish healthy, I am happy about it. I work very hard to get to this point in my life.”

There’s no denying it. Julien Alfred is at the peak of her powers now. Only 24 and the sprinter is flying through every challenge, having lost only five races since the Paris Olympics. The word loss is doing heavy lifting there, though, because for Alfred, a loss has become not finishing first. And it showed in Oslo.

It has shown this season more than anything. Because right now, in a year without World Championships or an Olympics, Alfred is on track to have a sensational season. The 24-year-old has won every single race she has competed in this season, bar one. That happened to be the 60m final at the World Indoor Championship in Torun, where she clocked 7.03 seconds.

The winner, Zaynab Dosso, registered 7 seconds flat, which meant that Jacious Sears and Alfred finished second and third in a photo finish by 0.03 seconds. Not exactly a blowout, and considering it was her first major event of the season, it made it even more impressive. However, the sprinter hasn’t run too many times since then, with just four races in her outdoor season so far.

That includes her impressive 200m Rome Diamond League win as well, where she beat out Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Anavia Battle to the gold. Rather comfortably as well, clocking 21.93 as compared to 22.17 and 22.39 for Jefferson-Wooden and Battle, respectively. Her win in Oslo, though, marked only the second time Alfred had run the 100m, and she’s been enjoying every second.

“Just being here, racing amongst the best athletes in the world, like I said, I am appreciating every chance I get to run,” Alfred added. “I love the competitiveness in the 100m right now. It keeps me on my toes to go out there and compete and be at my best every single time I line up.

“So I have no complaints right now. Usain Bolt – that is still the person I look up to. I met him last year for the very first time, and he is still the one to look up to until today.”

Yet Oslo was hardly the first sign that something had changed for Alfred. In fact, a week earlier in Rome, the Olympic champion had produced another statement performance, one that left her reflecting on just how far she has come both as an athlete and as a person.

Julien Alfred reflects on her win at the Rome Diamond League

For Julien Alfred, Rome marked her second 200m race of the season, and it has never been her favourite. In fact, the 24-year-old has said outright that she prefers racing the 100, although, given her times in the 200, she’s no slouch. If anything, Alfred had the world lead time with 21.86 seconds until Gabby Thomas hit 21.70 days before the Oslo Diamond League.

Not only that, but the Saint Lucian also won the Olympic silver medal in Paris, finishing behind Thomas again, albeit barely. That’s why it wasn’t all that surprising when the 24-year-old clocked 21.93 in Rome to beat reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. The American registered 22.17 for second, while Anavia Battle hit 22.39 for third to complete the podium. Even then, Alfred wasn’t happy.

“Win is a win. I wanted to go a bit faster but I will take the win,” Alfred said, as per Olympics.com. “I am healthy, and that’s important too. I am a lot stronger now than I used to be, and that’s why I could push a bit extra in the second part of the race.

“I expected the pressure from Melissa. I am kind of satisfied with this Diamond League win, but still I wished to run faster.”

Both Alfred and Jefferson-Wooden will lock horns soon enough, this time during the Silesia Diamond Meet. There, the two will compete in the 100m with the American a reigning world champion in that distance as well. The Saint Lucian, though, is an Olympic champion. Only time will tell who wins that battle in Poland on August 23.