Melissa Jefferson-Wooden on Why Losing to Julien Alfred in Rome Was Good for Her

World 100m and 200m champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden feels it was a great thing that she started her Diamond League season with defeat as it gave her a good indication of how fast she can run.

Jefferson-Wooden clocked 22.17 seconds in 200m at the Rome Diamond League on Thursday, finishing second behind Julien Alfred, who won the race in a time of 21.93 seconds.

It was revenge of some sort for Alfred who had lost both 100m and 200m titles to the American at the World Championship last year but Jefferson-Wooden is looking at the brighter side of things.

The 25-year-old says running the 200m indicated that she is ready for a fast time which she is looking forward to clocking in Stockholm on Sunday when she will be the star attraction in the 100m on Sunday.

“The 200m indicated that I am ready to run something really fast,” Jefferson-Wooden said in Stockholm on Saturday.

“I don’t have a set number out there but the main thing for me has always been to execute and that is what I am going to go out there to do tomorrow [Sunday].

“Once I execute, I know whatever time that may come out there or should come out there will, and I am pretty sure I would be happy with it.”

It will be the first 100m race of the season for Jefferson-Wooden, who has a personal best of 10.61 seconds over the distance which is ranked first among those actively running.

She will be up against Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, also running her first 100m of the campaign and with a personal best of 10.83 seconds, another Briton Amy Hunt, who has run 11.12 seconds this year, with Italian Zaynab Dosso the other contender, and who has run 11.07 seconds in 2026.