Julien Alfred vs Noah Lyles: Who is the Fastest Sprinter in the World 2024

For the next four years at least, Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred and the USA’s Noah Lyles will hold the titles of women's and men's 100m Olympic gold medallists, respectively.

Consequently, they can be dubbed the world’s fastest woman and man, as the Olympic 100m sprint champion is typically tagged. However, who amongst them is the fastest person alive?

Although highly rated, Alfred was not the favourite going into the competition, with America's Sha’Carri Richardson and Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Prysc billed higher than her. 

Following the three-time Olympic gold medallist’s withdrawal, Richardson was expected to dominate the division, but Alfred stepped up to glory. 

The Saint Lucian 60-metre record holder first declared intent in the semi-finals, where she torched competition, including Richardson, to book her place in the finals. 

She repeated the feat in the final, completing the race at 10.72 seconds to clinch gold, her country’s first, and the title of fastest woman. 

In contrast to Alfred, Lyles was far from understated. The American’s polarising, outspoken nature earned a lot of interest in his performance at the Olympics, and his World Championship win placed him as one of the favourites for gold.

Lyles was cold out of the gate, failing to impress in the heats as his 10.04s time could only finish behind Britain's Louie Hinchcliffe. He was much improved in the semi-finals, finishing at 9.83s but could only manage second place to Jamaica’s Oblique Seville.

When it mattered most, however, Lyles ran the fastest, his personal best (9.79s), pipping Kishane Thompson (9.79s) by a thousandth of a second to win Olympic gold. 

Factually, and as has been the case historically due to biological differences, the world’s fastest man is also the fastest person alive. 

Alfred finished her race in an impressive 10.72s. Albeit a Saint Lucian national record, it is still nearly a second slower (0.93) than Lyles’s 9.79 finish.