Julien Alfred Extends Dominance Over Gabby Thomas With Meeting Record in London

Julien Alfred continued her hot streak, dominating the women’s 200m field at the Diamond League Meeting in London on Saturday, July 18.

She captured the victory with a blistering, meet-record time of 21.66 seconds, forcing triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas to settle for second yet again.

Gabby Thomas crossed the finish line in a swift 21.81 seconds. Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas delivered a strong performance to take third place in 22.24 seconds, closely followed by Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith, who clocked a season's best of 22.28 seconds for fourth.

British teammate Amy Hunt also secured a season's best time of 22.30 seconds to finish fifth, leading fellow countrywoman Success Eduan, who finished sixth in 22.53 seconds. The competitive lineup was rounded out by the American duo of Anavia Battle and Cambrea Sturgis, who finished seventh and eighth with times of 22.55 seconds and 22.57 seconds, respectively.

"I am happy I won again. I am healthy, so I couldn't be happier right now. Right now, I am in a good place mentally and physically. I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to run today, but my coach was like It's our last race for a while; we can go home and get to St. Lucia too," Julien Alfred said after the race.

Meanwhile, Julien Alfred kicked off her impressive indoor campaign at the Wooo Pig Classic, winning her preliminary 60-meter heat in 7.04 seconds before claiming first place in the final in a time of 7.00 seconds.

The world 100m bronze medallist carried that dominant momentum to the Tyson Invitational, where she took victory in both her championship heat in 7.01 seconds and the final with a blazing 6.99 seconds.

At the World Athletics Indoor Championships, she won both her heat and semifinal round in 7.06 and 7.04 seconds, respectively, before securing a third-place podium finish in the final with a time of 7.03 seconds.

Transitioning to the outdoor season, she secured a double victory at the Texas Invitational, dominating the 200 meters in 21.86 seconds and the 100 meters in 10.93 seconds.

Her outdoor dominance continued on the Diamond League circuit, where she raced to victory in the 200 meters at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in 21.93 seconds and won the 100 meters at the Oslo Bislett Games in 10.76 seconds.

She then laid down a spectacular 21.51 seconds to win the 200 meters at the Meeting International d’Athlétisme Herculis EBS in Monaco. Finally, Alfred capped off this incredible string of performances by winning the 100 meters at the Gyulai István Memorial in 10.87 seconds before heading to London.