Julien Alfred and Thea LaFond led their two small Caribbean island nations to their first-ever Olympic medals when they won gold in the women’s 100 meters and triple jump at the Paris Games on Saturday.
On a heady night in athletics, Femke Bol blasted rival Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400m hurdles with an incredible display of running to anchor the Netherlands to victory in the 4x400m medley relay.
And American Ryan Crouser won an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic title in men’s shooting.
In the 100m, Alfred St. Lucia overtook the much-vaunted American world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and cruised to victory from the gun to the tape in 10.72 seconds.
“It means a lot to my country. I’m sure they’re celebrating right now,” Alfred said.
It was a stunning success in torrential rain at the Stade de France, aided by a terrible start by world champion Richardson and the withdrawal before the final of injured Jamaican veteran Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Richardson fought back to take silver in 10.87s, but Fraser-Pryce missed out completely in her bid to become the first Olympian to medal in the same athletics event in five consecutive Games dating back to her gold in Beijing in 2008.
Anyway, the night belonged to 23-year-old Alfred, overcome with joy after finding out she had clinched St Lucia their first ever medal of any color at the Olympics.
“Growing up, I used to be on the playground and I struggled with running barefoot, running in my school uniform and running everywhere,” Alfred said.
“I really hope this gold medal will also help the youth and help Saint Lucia build a new stadium and really help the sport.”
In a remarkable turn of events – just 10 minutes later – another gold for the second island nation in the West Indies, which also began competing at the 1996 Games.
LaFond cleared a national record of 15.02 meters on her second attempt in the triple jump.
The world indoor champion held her nerve as Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts cleared 14.87m to claim silver.
“It’s absolutely beyond my wildest dreams,” LaFond said. “The rain was kind of in my favor, it started as soon as I finished the second jump – thank God for working with me!”
Lafond added: “Here we are, Olympic champion. Dominica’s first medal, that’s gold. Indoor was the first medal, that was gold. What a year, what a life, oh my god, wow!
“Every time I step on the track it’s an honor, carrying the flag is an honor, being Dominican is an honor. To represent a country of only 70,000 people and to be here and win my first medal, a gold, is an honor.”
In the field, Crouser was excited to compete after a season in which he suffered two elbow injuries on either side of a torn pectoral muscle.
“I’m honored. I feel so lucky to be able to compete,” he said.
“It took a lot to get back to where I was in the past. It made it all the more special to be there tonight. There were many times I thought I might not be.”
Crouser’s American teammate Joe Kovacs grabbed the silver with his sixth and final attempt of 22.15m. Jamaican Rajindra Campbell took the bronze.
The drama continued until the end of a soggy evening session when Norway’s Markus Rooth claimed gold in a thrilling decathlon final.
Rooth amassed 8,796 points over the two-day, 10-event event, securing victory only in the final 1500 metres.
Germany’s Leo Neugebauer won silver with 8,748 points, Lindon Victor from Grenada won bronze (8,711). “I was exhausted,” Rooth said. “It’s tough mentally. I ran as hard as I could. It was great.”
