Julien Alfred faces McLaughlin-Levrone in bid for Women’s Track Athlete of the Year

St. Lucia’s sprint sensation, Julien Alfred, has been named a finalist for the highly esteemed Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award, where she will compete against American Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone for the title.

Alfred, 23, made history at the Paris Olympics earlier this year by securing gold in the women’s 100 meters and silver in the 200 meters, marking her as the first athlete from St. Lucia to reach the Olympic podium. Now, she faces a formidable rival in McLaughlin-Levrone, the United States’ Olympic 400-meter hurdles gold medalist, as they both vie for the top honor in women’s track.

On the men’s side, Norwegian distance star Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Botswana’s sprint champion Letsile Tebogo have emerged as the finalists for Men’s Track Athlete of the Year. Ingebrigtsen clinched gold in the 5000 meters in Paris, while Tebogo captured headlines by winning gold in the 200 meters, defeating a highly competitive field.

Other categories

Other categories include Women’s Field Athlete of the Year, where Ukraine’s high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Belgium’s heptathlon star Nafissatou Thiam will contend for the honor. The men’s field category sees Sweden’s Olympic pole vault champion, Mondo Duplantis, up against Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou, who earned gold in the long jump.