Not too long ago, news of Julien Alfred’s injury brought an upset to the entire world of track and field. Reports (and Diamond League officials) claimed that she’d miss three Diamond League meets (Silesia, Lausanne, and Brussels) in August because of the said injury. Thankfully, all of this turned out to be nothing but ‘fake news.’ So, does that mean she won’t be missing out on the slated 100m dash at Silesia and the 200m race in Lausanne? Well, not really!

According to St. Lucia Times, Alfred isn’t participating in the next two Diamond League events because she’s preparing for the next big ones, which are the Diamond League finals in Zurich and the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. She has confirmed that she’s “fine and healthy.” Well, like any other athlete, even Alfred needs a bit of rest and fine-tuning to stay in peak athletic condition.

But it’s not like Julien Alfred remained free from injuries in her career. Despite winning the 60m dash at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow 2024, she felt heavy. There was a mental strain that almost pulled her out of the world of track. And now, it was an apparent injury that pulled her away from the next two Diamond League meets. But rest assured. She told the St. Lucia Times that she’s currently training and is “working on things in preparation for the last few races”.

Of course, the track and field fans will miss Julien Alfred on the Wanda Diamond League circuit. After all, she had a chance to go up against Sha’Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the fastest female in the world over 100m in 2025.

Meanwhile, let’s take a journey back in time. There’s a reason athletes need a break every now and then. And Alfred realized that before the 2024 Olympic Games.

Julien Alfred might never have become the Olympic 100m champion

The St. Lucia native was suddenly down following her impressive win at the 60m dash at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2024. Talking to BBC, she said, “I wasn’t motivated like before. It felt so much pressure whenever I got a chance to race, because now I thought that Saint Lucians was expecting so much from me. I felt like I had to win every single time. I felt like I couldn’t do it.”

Tears fell down the athlete’s face as she recalled, “I had a breakdown. I told my coach I didn’t want to continue my season, I told my agent to cancel my meets.” She was almost ready to retire from the sport. Of course, she was pretty hard on herself. Alfred continued, “I was overweight, I was struggling mentally, and feeling like I couldn’t go on. My coach took me off the track for a bit.”

But thanks to her coach, Edrick Floreal, Alfred gathered herself and worked on her mental health. And the last thing that the coach asked her, following the long conversation regarding the mental breakdown, was, “Are you ready to be an Olympic champion?” And as it turns out, she was ready, and she did become one, winning gold in the 100m.

Now, do you think the current break can help her win the races in Zurich and Tokyo? Let us know in the comments down below.