US champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden arrives undefeated this year
Olympic champion Julien Alfred chases first world title
Five-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce says farewell
Olympic champion Julien Alfred’s home country St Lucia is famous for its dramatic twin peaks, the Pitons, which dominate the island’s landscape. Alfred is after a second peak of her own in Tokyo as she seeks to add the world title to her Paris triumph.
In the early part of this international season, it seemed that few could stand in her way. She did not lose a race in the first six months of the year, including back-to-back 100m victories in the Wanda Diamond League in Oslo and Stockholm. But then it became apparent that this year might offer more than an Alfred victory parade.
Olympic bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden also made a bright start to the season and when the Paris medallists met for the first time over 100m since the Olympics, it was the US sprinter who triumphed, winning narrowly in 10.75, to Alfred’s 10.77, in Eugene and running into a -1.5m/s headwind.
The two women have not raced each other since, but they are on a collision course for Tokyo, with the title on their minds and speed in their legs.
A podium finish in Paris gave Jefferson-Wooden a taste of global success, and she has devoured it since, finding career-best form and clocking a world-leading 10.65 to win the US trials, which lifted her to No.5 on the world all-time list, and confirmed that she would be the top US challenger this year.
She then chalked up victories in Silesia (10.66) and Brussels (10.75) in August to round out her Tokyo preparation, in which she has been undefeated over 100m.
“I know that I’m in great shape and that it’s all about putting together the perfect race at the perfect time, when it matters the most, and that is at the World Championships in Tokyo,” she said in Brussels. “The plan is definitely to go out there and take gold. I feel like I put myself in a really good spot to be a contender for that and now it’s time to have trust.”
Alfred had a mid-season stutter after winning the 100m in Monaco and the 200m in London in July, withdrawing from competition for five weeks, but she returned for the Diamond League Final in Zurich without missing a beat, winning the 100m commandingly in 10.76 (just outside her personal best of 10.72).
“I feel like I want to add another gold to my collection,” she said post-race. “When I compare myself now and at the beginning of the season, I am much fitter than before, and also mentally. I am in the right place, where I want to be.”
As the two women head to Japan, they share the top nine times in the world this year, but Jefferson-Wooden holds the edge with the top three times, and a victory over her main rival for gold.
US teammate Sha’Carri Richardson will defend the world title in Tokyo, but has yet to show the form that won her the title in Budapest in 2023. She has not broken 11 seconds this year, and withdrew before the final at the US Championships, but will compete in Tokyo courtesy of the wildcard afforded to the defending champion.
New national champion Tina Clayton will lead Jamaica’s charge and is the only other woman with a top-10 time this year (10.81). Unfortunately, her equally- speedy twin Tia Clayton (10.82 this year) will not compete in the individual 100m after an untimely injury during the Jamaican Trials. She recovered to finish second (10.84) to Alfred in Zurich but needed to win that race to claim a wildcard entry to the 100m in Tokyo.
However, five-time world 100m champion Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, 38, will have the chance to bid farewell to global athletics as she wished, by competing in the 100m at her ninth World Championships.
Kayla White, runner-up at the highly competitive US Championships, and Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, winner at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Budapest, are other athletes to look out for.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics
AloJapan.com