2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Julien Alfred made history despite a second-placed finish in the 200m at the London Diamond League on Saturday.

She established a new personal best and St. Lucian national record 21.86 in finishing second behind American Gabby Thomas who ran a meet record 21.82 to win.

After narrowly missing out on medals in both the 100m and 200m at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, the 23-year-old looks set to leave Paris with at least one medal based on her excellent form this season.

In an interview with Trackstaa after her race in London, Alfred spoke about what it means to represent her country on the world stage.

“I feel honoured to be an ambassador for my tiny island every day I step on the track,” Alfred said.

“We’re small but we’re mighty and we have amazing talent in St. Lucia just waiting to come out,” added the former University of Texas standout.

The 2023 Bowerman Award winner went undefeated indoors at the beginning of the year, culminating in her first World Indoor Championship 60m title in Glasgow in March, before switching her focus outdoors in the build up to the Olympics.

In four 100m races this season, Alfred has produced times of 11.15 at the Texas Invitational on April 27, 10.93 at the Prefontaine Classic on May 25, a personal best 10.78 at the Racers Grand Prix on June 1 and 10.85 at the Monaco Diamond League on July 12, the last two races resulting in wins.

In her two 200m races before Saturday, she ran 22.58 at the Mt. Sac Relays on April 20 and 22.16 at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial on July 9.

Alfred, who currently lives and trains in Texas, plans to return home to St. Lucia at the end of her season.

“Oh Definitely. I haven’t been home to actually relax. It’s always been a quick in and out, especially this year in April, so I’ll get a chance to just go home, get back to my roots and go have fun and be with my people. That’s all I want,” she said.

“I miss the food, the people and the environment. Just being around family, being on the beach. It’s an absolutely amazing place,” she added.

Jamaica’s Jevaughn Powell and Trinidad & Tobago’s Leah Bertrand were among the Caribbean podium finishers at Friday’s Holloway Pro Classic in Gainesville, Florida.

Powell, who took third in the 400m at both the NCAA Championships and Jamaican National Championships in June, completed his final preparation for Paris with a 20.21 clocking for second in the 200m on Friday.

American Erriyon Knighton ran 19.92 to win while another American, Robert Gregory, ran 20.33 in third.

Bertrand, fresh off her second national 100m title in June, ran 11.18 for third behind American Candice Hill and Nigerian Favour Ofili. Hill and Ofili both ran the same time of 11.07.

The upcoming Olympic Games in Paris will be the first for the 21-year-old Ohio State Junior.

Bertrand's countrywoman, Tyra Gittens, was second in the long jump with a best mark of 6.37m in the sixth and final round. The event was won by American Tionna Tobias with a massive personal best of 6.94m while countrywoman Jasmine Todd was third with 6.17m.

Bahamian Charisma Taylor, who will be competing in the 100m hurdles in Paris, finished third in the triple jump on Friday with 13.63m.

American’s Kenturah Orji and Jasmine Moore finished first and second with 14.08m and 14.06m, respectively.

Jamaica’s Skyler Franklin ran 51.01 for third in the women’s 400m behind Americans Aaliyah Butler (50.14) and Bailey Lear (50.51).

British World Championship silver medallist signaled his intent to go one better at the Paris Olympics with a brilliant performance to win the 400m at the London Diamond League on Saturday.

In his home stadium, Hudson-Smith, whose mother hails from Hanover in Jamaica, covered the field in the first 300m before showcasing his endurance and strength in the last 100m on his way to a new personal best, national record and world leading 43.74, his first time under 44 seconds.

American Vernon Norwood ran a personal best 44.10 in second while Trinidadian Jereem Richards scaled to new heights in the event with a personal best of his own, 44.18, in third.

Signaling the speed on display in the race, Britain’s Charlie Dobson ran a personal best 44.23 in fourth while Olympic and World champion Kirani James’ season’s best 44.38 was only good enough for fifth.

The women’s 200m saw St. Lucian Commonwealth Games 100m silver medallist Julien Alfred produce a personal best and national record 21.86 for second.

American Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas won in a meet record 21.82 while British 2019 World Champion Dina Asher-Smith was third in a season’s best 22.07.

The women’s 800m saw multiple time World Championship and Olympic finalist Natoya Goule-Toppin run a season’s best 1:56.83 for fourth.

Great Britain swept the top three spots led by World Championship silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson’s personal best, national record and world leading 1:54.61. Jemma Reekie was second in a personal best 1:55.61 while Georgia Bell also ran a personal best 1:56.28 in third.

Jamaica’s Stacey-Ann Williams and Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards were the only Caribbean winners at Tuesday’s Spitzen Leichtathletik Meet in Luzern, Switzerland.

Williams turned back the challenge of Dutchwoman Lisanne de Witte and Switzerland’s Annina Fahr to win in 50.58, her second fastest time this season, trailing behind her 50.56 to finish second at Jamaica’s National Championships in June.

De Witte and Fahr’s times in second and third were 51.99 and 52.08, respectively.

Richards, the 2017 World Championship bronze medallist and two-time Commonwealth Champion, all in the 200m, won the half-lap event on Tuesday in 20.19 ahead of the Zimbabwean pair Makanakaishe Charamba (20.42) and Tapiwanashe Makarawu (20.48).

The 30-year-old Trinidadian will also compete in the 400m in Paris. He won gold in the distance at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.

Another Jamaican Olympian, Lanae-Tava Thomas, was narrowly beaten by the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai in the 200m.

Gbai’s winning time of 22.57 just beat out Thomas’s 22.60 while Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji was just behind in third in 22.61.

Kemba Nelson ran 11.21 to finish third overall in the women’s 100m behind New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.17) and Kambundji (11.20).

Dejanea Oakley has swapped the Big 12 Conference for the South East Conference (SEC) after completing a transfer from the University of Texas to the University of Georgia.

The 20-year-old former Clarendon College standout competed at the University of Texas in 2023 and 2024, with the latter being her most successful season to date.

She established new personal best in the 100m (11.38), 200m (22.60) and 400m (51.75) this season.

That 200m time came on her way to winning the Big 12 Outdoor title in May. She subsequently made it to the semi-finals of the 200m at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships in Eugene in June where she finished sixth in 22.82 in her heat.

Those outdoor exploits came after Oakley won the 200m-400m double at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas in February.

Most recently, Oakley competed in the 200m at the Jamaican National Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston from June 27-30.

She ran 22.66 for fourth in the women’s 200m final behind Shericka Jackson (22.29), Lanae-Tava Thomas (22.34) and Niesha Burgher (22.39).

Internationally, Oakley took 400m bronze at the 2023 Pan Am U-20 Championships in Puerto Rico and was a finalist at the World U-20 Championships in Colombia in 2022.

She was also part of Jamaica’s silver medal-winning quartet in the women’s 4x400m at those 2022 World U-20 Championships.

2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Julien Alfred secured a win in the 200m at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour-Gold meet in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on Tuesday.

The St. Lucian 2023 Bowerman Award winner ran a solid first 100m in lane seven, a lane outside two-time World 200m champion Shericka Jackson.

What seemed to be a titanic clash between the two to see who would come out on top ended drastically as, with about 30m left in the race, Jackson pulled up with what appeared to be a cramp, paving the way for an easy win for Alfred in 22.16.

Great Britain’s Daryll Neita ran a season’s best 22.36 in second while Jamaican Lanae-Tava Thomas ran 22.54 in third.

In the Men’s one lap event Gardiner ran his usual evenly paced race to take top spot in a time of 44.50.

Jamaican National Championships runner-up Sean Bailey ran a season’s best 44.64 in second while South African Lythe Pillay ran 45.24 for third.

 In the field, Jamaica's Ackelia Smith produced 6.83m for second in the Women's long jump behind Colombia's Natalia Linares who jumped 6.87m. American Quanesha Burks was third with 6.76m.

Louisiana State University (LSU) has secured the services of Vincentian 200m and 400m runner Amal Glasgow ahead of the next NCAA Track & Field season, the school announced on social media last week.

The 19-year-old former Kingston College standout had the best season of his young career in 2024.

He secured a pair of medals at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships in March, winning silver in the Class One 400m in 46.85 before going one better in the 200m with 21.22, a personal best.

At the JAAA Olympic French Foray #3 on June 15, Glasgow established a new personal best 46.13 in the 400m.

Glasgow, who is also a two-time 400m bronze medallist at the CARIFTA Games, will join a number of Caribbean athletes at LSU including the likes on NCAA Indoor 60m champion Brianna Lyston, CARIFTA Games 100m silver medallist Jaiden Reid and NCAA Championship 110m hurdles semi-finalist Jaheim Stern.

“But with God, all things are possible,” Glasgow said on Instagram.

“Without God, the past three years that have been filled with many experiences and journeys would not have happened. A humble beginning from Kingstown to Kingston and now to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As one purple chapter ends, another begins. LSU here I come. Let’s go Tigers,” he added.

Jamaicans Tarees Rhoden and Kimar Farquharson both advanced to the final of the men’s 800m on day one of the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Oregon on Wednesday.

Rhoden, a senior at Clemson, and Farquharson, a junior at Texas A&M, were both in the second of three semi-finals.

In the heat won by Farquharson’s teammate and current NCAA leader Sam Whitmarsh in 1:46.01, Rhoden ran 1:46.18 to be the second automatic qualifier for the final while Farquharson was third in 1:46.32 to advance as the fastest non-automatic qualifier.

Bahamian Florida junior Wanya McCoy ran 10.15 and 20.22 to advance to the finals of both the 100m and 200m.

Jamaican Florida senior Jevaughn Powell (45.17) and junior Reheem Hayles (45.59) both advanced to the final of the one lap event.

All those finals are set for Friday.

Elsewhere, in a massive upset, World Championship long jump silver medallist Wayne Pinnock’s best jump of 7.98m was only good enough for fifth in the men’s long jump.

USC sophomore JC Stevenson produced a personal best 8.22m to win ahead of Florida State senior Jeremiah Davis (8.07m) and Florida junior Malcolm Clemons (8.05m).

Clemson junior Courtney Lawrence threw a personal best 19.92m for fifth in the men’s shot put won by Ole Miss sophomore Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan in a personal best and collegiate-leading 20.88m.

Wisconsin’s Jason Swarens (20.38m) and South Carolina’s Dylan Taggart (20.23m) were second and third.

Bahamian national record holder and Auburn sophomore Keyshawn Strachan threw 74.95m for fifth in the men’s javelin.

Georgia’s Marc Minichello threw 80.70m to win ahead of Washington’s Chandler Ault (79.31m) and Miami’s Devoux Deysel (75.14m).

Trinidad and Tobago Olympian Jereem Richards is heading towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a confident and relaxed mindset, feeling no pressure from the weight of national expectations. Richards, who recently clinched victory in the 200m at the Racer's Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica, expressed his satisfaction with his performance and his outlook for the upcoming Olympics.

Richards triumphed in the 200m at the National Stadium in Kingston last weekend, clocking an impressive 20.13 seconds. Reflecting on his race, Richards rated his performance highly. "I would rate it an eight out of 10. I felt really good in the warm-up. I thought I was ready to come off the turn in front of them although those guys are more one-two guys and I’m a four-two guy. Came off the turn not exactly where I wanted to be, but I know I’m strong and once I get tall, ain't much people could run the last 100m as effective as me."

While the time wasn't exactly what he had anticipated, Richards was pleased with his overall fitness and performance. "I won with 20.1. It wasn’t the time I expected, but I felt really good. If you give me three minutes (recovery) I could run that same time again. So praise God for the fitness level I have right now. I have to work on the speed a little bit more, but I believe everything is falling into the right time and the right place and when I actually need it to be, it’s gonna be there."

As Richards prepares for the Trinidad and Tobago national championships, he remains undecided on whether he will compete in the 200m or the 400m. Regardless of the event, his primary focus remains on maintaining his form and readiness for Paris.

When it comes to carrying the hopes of Trinidad and Tobago on the global stage, Richards feels no added pressure. The last time Trinidad and Tobago secured an Olympic medal was at the 2016 Rio Games when Keshorn Walcott won bronze in the men’s javelin. Despite this, Richards maintains a grounded perspective.

"To me, it’s no pressure. The way I think about it is the only people I really care about are my intimate circle—my family, my wife, my mother, and my close friends, my siblings also. Even though I know I will have the support of Trinidad and Tobago and the pressure of being expected to win a medal, at the end of the day, if I know I do well or don’t do well, my family and my intimate circle are the ones who actually do care about me outside of sport, so when I focus on them it takes away all the pressure."

Richards' approach emphasized the importance of personal support over external expectations. "People could say bad about performances, my family loves me each and every day and it doesn’t matter."

With this mindset, Jereem Richards is poised to tackle the challenges of the Olympic Games in Paris with confidence and composure, knowing that his success on the track is supported by the unwavering love and support of those who matter most to him.

Lanae-Tava Thomas looked impressive on her way to a new personal best to win the 200m title at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

The 23-year-old produced 22.36, bettering her previous lifetime best 22.38 done in 2023, to win ahead of fellow Jamaicans Ashanti Moore who ran a season’s best 22.74 in second and Jodean Williams who ran 22.95, also a season’s best.

Her coach Edrick Floreal previously told SportsMax.tv earlier this season that he believes Thomas can run as fast as 21.7 this season.

“He knows. Even if I don’t believe I can do it, if he says I can do it I’m stepping on the track and I’m going to do it,” Thomas said when asked about that prediction after the race.

“All my coach told me to come here and do was execute the first 150, and I did that and I ended up finishing as strong as I could so that makes me know that, the last 50, all I needed to do was execute the last 50 to dominate the race,” she added.

The men’s equivalent saw Trinidadian World Championship bronze medallist Jereem Richards run 20.13 to take the win ahead of Nigeria’s Udodi Onwuzurike (20.27) and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell who ran a season’s best 20.48 in third.

Richards, who has competed in both the 200m and 400m this season, says he has yet to decide on which event he will focus on in Paris.

“I’m just going to run both events throughout the season and see which is the best one. As late as possible, I will make my pick,” he said.

Richards says his plan was to use his 400m strength to outlast his competitors.

“Udodi is my training partner. I know he’s very fast but I know I’m very strong right no too. I just tried my best to stay relaxed even though somebody tried to pull away from me. I could slowly see my speed getting there so I’m excited for what the rest of the season holds,” Richards added.

Two-time World 200m champion Shericka Jackson is looking to bounce back from a fifth-place finish in the 200m at the Oslo Diamond League on Thursday when she competes in the event at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday.

Jackson opened her season in the half lap event on May 19 at the Marrakech Diamond League with 22.82 to win before running 22.97 for fifth in Oslo two days ago.

“I would say it’s an okay year, so far. Have not run my best 200m yet but I’ve been working. I just need to put a good 200m together before the Jamaica trials. Hopefully, I can do that tomorrow,” she said at the pre-meet press conference on Saturday.

Jackson says that her focus is also on getting in good enough shape to get through the Jamaica trials set for June 27-30.

“Once I compete at the trials then everything afterwards matters. Once I get through that, we’ll take it from there,” she said.

Her apparent lack of competition sharpness is coming from running less races up to this point this season than she did last year.

“I think last year I was running a lot more and this year I’ve only run two races, so far. I’m trying to put the pieces together and coach and I have been working so I’m definitely hoping for a better race tomorrow than in Oslo,” she added.

The 29-year-old has no specific time in mind for tomorrow, with her only objective being to execute a good 200m.

“I just want to execute a good 200m. Once I do that a season’s best is possible,” she said.

Two-time World 200m champion Shericka Jackson will make her second appearance of the season when she takes part in the 200m at the Oslo Diamond League in Norway on May 30.

Jackson got her season off to a winning start with a 200m victory in Marrakech in 22.82 to maintain a winning streak of 16 finals that dates back to June 2022.

Having won Diamond Trophies in both the 100m and 200m last year, she’ll look to build on that opener in Oslo, where she will face USA’s Jenna Prandini, Anavia Battle and Brittany Brown, plus Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith and Daryll Neita, who won the 200m in Suzhou and 100m in Doha.

Dominican Republic’s world champion Marileidy Paulino will race against world bronze medallist Sada Williams and world indoor silver medallist Lieke Klaver in the 400m, while the men’s event features Grenada’s multiple Olympic and world medallist Kirani James, world silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith and home favourite Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen.

Jamaica’s world bronze medallist Rushell Clayton leads the entries for the women’s 400m hurdles.

The men’s event will a treat for the fans as the three-time world champion Karsten Warholm contests the 400m hurdles for the first time since finishing second in the Diamond League final in Eugene in September.

He’s got some fierce competition as he faces Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, the world and Diamond League champion in 2022, who opened his own 400m hurdles season with a 46.86 win in Doha. Looking to challenge them both will be world silver medallist Kyron McMaster.

After setting a world record of 74.35m in Ramona in April, Mykolas Alekna won the discus clash in Marrakech, surpassing 70 metres again with a 70.70m throw to beat Australian record-holder Matthew Denny and Sweden’s Olympic and world champion Daniel Stahl.

That trio clash again in Oslo as part of a stacked field – one which also includes 2022 world gold medallist Kristjan Ceh, Andrius Gudzius, Fedrick Dacres and Lukas Weisshaidinger.

Bahamian Olympic champion Steven Gardiner produced his best run of the season to hold off a fast finishing Alexander Doom and take top spot in the 400m at the 63^rd Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Gardiner’s time of 44.39 was just ahead of the Belgian’s personal best 44.44 in second. Reigning Jamaican national champion Sean Bailey was third in a season’s best 44.93.

Jamaican 2023 World Championship finalists Ryiem Forde and Andrew Hudson finished second in the 100m and 200m, respectively.

Forde’s time in second was 10.17 while Hudson ran 20.56. Both races were won by Canadian Olympic champion Andre De Grasse. He ran 10.10 in the 100m before returning to the track to run a season’s best 20.09 in the 200m.

Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs ran 10.19 for third in the 100m while Great Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 20.63 for third in the 200m.

In the field, two-time World champion Anderson Peters was third in the javelin.

The Grenadian battled windy conditions to produce a best throw of 78.60m, far behind Germany’s Julian Weber and the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch who produced 87.26m and 86.06m for first and second, respectively.

Bahamian Steven Gardiner is among three individual men’s Olympic sprint champions set to compete at the Golden Spike, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on Tuesday.

Italy’s Marcell Jacobs and Canada’s Andre De Grasse, the Olympic gold medallists over 100m and 200m respectively, will clash over the shorter distance, then De Grasse will double up by contesting his specialist event.

Gardiner, meanwhile, will take on world indoor champion Alexander Doom over one lap of the track.

The Bahamian, who has a season’s best of 44.45, could be pushed by the Belgian, who won in Marrakesh last week with a lifetime best of 44.51.

Not including the few races where he has pulled up injured, Gardiner has been undefeated over 400m since the 2017 World Championships.

Elsewhere, Jacobs has had just two individual outings this year, the latest being a 10.07 season’s best to win in Rome last weekend.

That makes the Italian the fastest of the Ostrava field this year on season’s bests, though he’s also one of four men in the line-up with a sub-10-second PB.

De Grasse, meanwhile, has a best this year of 10.11 and recently finished second at the Diamond League meeting in Marrakesh.

Britain’s Reece Prescod, who set his PB of 9.93 in Ostrava when winning in the Czech city two years ago, will be one to watch, as will Jamaica’s Ryiem Forde.

Later in the evening, De Grasse will take on Jamaica’s Andrew Hudson and Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake in the 200m.

In the men’s javelin, home favourite Jakub Vadlejch will take on European champion Julian Weber and two-time world champion Anderson Peters.

Four-time global medallist Vadlejch recently won in Doha with 88.38m, which puts him just one centimeter ahead of Weber on this year’s world list. Peters is close behind with a best of 86.62m.

Reigning champion Ackelia Smith will get an opportunity to defend her NCAA Division I Outdoor long jump title after securing her spot at this year’s championships at the NCAA West First Round in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Thursday.

Smith needed only one legal attempt to produce 6.86m (3.4 m/s) and advance to the NCAA Championships set for June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Oregon.

The 22-year-old Texas junior produced 6.88m to win the NCAA title last year.

On the track, reigning national champion Nickisha Pryce ran 50.31 to secure her spot in Saturday’s 400m quarterfinals.

The Arkansas senior became the second-fastest Jamaican ever in the distance when she ran 49.32 to win the SEC Outdoor title on May 11.

Jamaican San Diego State sophomore Shaquena Foote (51.35), Jamaican Arkansas junior Joanne Reid (52.54) and Guyanese Kansas junior Deshana Skeete (52.70) also made it through to the quarters.

A pair of Jamaican Texas standouts, sophomore Dejanea Oakley and senior Kevona Davis, advanced to the quarterfinals in the 200m.

Oakley, who recently won the SEC 200m title, ran 22.73 while Davis ran 22.97.