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How Usain Bolt contributed to Julien Alfred's victory in the women's 100m at the Paris Olympics

Julien Alfred has narrated how Usain Bolt inspired her to victory in the women's 100m final at the Paris Olympic Games.

Julien Alfred is walking in the footsteps of the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, as she looks to obliterate the women’s 100m world record.

The world record was set by the late Florence Griffith Joyner who clocked an astonishing 10.49 seconds to win the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

She explained that multiple Olympic champion Bolt contributed to her win at the Paris Olympic Games since she watched some of his videos before stepping on the track for the final. In an interview with the Times, Alfred noted that she wants to be one of the greatest ever.

She is slowly getting closer to achieving her dreams as she has been crowned Olympic champion. To achieve the feat, the St. Lucia sprinter had to beat a strong cast from the U.S. including the reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson who finished second and third.

“For me it was never the Olympics. I wanted to be the fastest woman in the world. I wanted to be unbeatable. It was almost child-like. I never saw being from a small place as a negative. I never thought it would make things impossible. I watched Usain Bolt be the fastest man and just knew what I wanted,” Alfred said.

“I wanted to help my family and I saw running as a way out. So I watched a few of his races before mine. I had to go back to my roots to see how he handled everything, from the pressure to the celebrations. He was an inspiration to me growing up and I wanted to be just like him,” she added.

After winning the Olympic 100m and claiming the 200m silver medal, Alfred noted that she felt a sense of being free.

She was unfazed by the presence of Richardson and noted that in such instances, she never feels the need to worry about the things happening around her. When she steps on the track, Alfred noted that she only focuses on herself.

“When I run fast I feel happy, like I’m on top of the world and nothing can stop me. Sometimes when you focus on racing, it can make you tense, but when you just focus on yourself you have that freedom. No worries. Unstoppable. That’s how I felt in Paris,” she revealed.

However, her journey to becoming an Olympic champion has been marred with challenges. Alfred admitted that she used to train on grass since there was no available track where she used to live.

“Every country has its own challenges. But Saint Lucia is a country full of life, very beautiful and rich in its own ways. I really hope I have put it on the map,” she added.

(08/20/2024) Views: 173 ⚡AMP
by Abigael Wafula

Cannon, Nelson win 54th Paavo

The three H's are what make the Paavo Nurmi Marathon so difficult.

Heat. Humidity. Hills.

But sometimes runners catch a break from two of them. On a fall-like day when spectators donned hoodies, the 54th Paavo proved fast with none of the heat and humidity, even as midday approached.

"While it may not have been the best weather for spectators, it was fantastic for runners," race director Derek Lindstrom said. "The runners ran so well."

Six runners cleared the three-hour mark, led by Ethan Cannon's 2:27:20, the fastest Paavo finish in 31 years.

"It was that kind of day," Lindstrom said. "Fast weather, but that's a fast time, that's fast running."

The women's winner, Sarah Nelson, finished in 3:18:49, about a half an hour faster than last year's first-place finisher.

Cannon, 27, of Minneapolis was the favorite coming in, Lindstrom said. He lived up to it with the Paavo's fastest time since four-time winner Todd Sperling ran it in 2:27:00 in 1993. The only other runner to clear 2:30 since then was Ironwood graduate Alan Peterson, who won it in 2018 with a time of 2:28:12. Most of the other winners have been in the 2:33 to 2:46 range.

The fastest finish all-time happened all the way back in 1978 when Richard Wilde ran the course in 2:19:11.

Cannon was looking for another marathon to get under his belt, he had only done one before. He found the Paavo online - it's not too far from Minneapolis and he was just up here.

He ran track and cross country at the University of Minnesota in the 2021-22 school year as a graduate transfer from BYU. After finishing that, he moved on to road races - 10K, half-marathons - for the last couple of years.

"Kind of a natural step up would be to do the marathon," he said. "I did my first one last fall."

He made the transition seem pretty easy with his super fast time in the Paavo.

"Running a marathon is like a whole different sport, it feels like almost," Cannon said, "because there's different considerations you have to make in terms of fueling. It definitely is good to have the background. It's very normal for me to run 18 miles on a Saturday morning, but definitely it is an adjustment. It's unlike any race I've run before, for sure."

He looks to keep running marathons - and see some new places while doing it. He also hopes to come back to the Paavo someday, too.

Winning the race felt good, he said.

"You get a lot of support from the other runners because you end up passing a lot of people in the half-marathon. In fact, I was able to run with some of the relay teams, I was able to keep up with those teams as they were running the marathon relay," Cannon said. "There was just a lot of support on the course for me from the fellow people who recognized I was in front of the marathon race and they were cheering me on. That definitely felt good and helped me to keep pushing and try to win and get a good time."

And, of course, the conditions were great.

"The weather was perfect. I'm actually a sucker for cloudy days anyway. It was dry, so not even wet at all, so just perfect," Cannon said. "The course was just fantastic, so beautiful out there. Like the first 10 miles or so, I was just kind of sightseeing, so that was very enjoyable. Of course, later on, the pain sets in."

Brad Vaara of Hurley was one of the six runners to finish in under three hours. He placed fourth in 2:54:10.

Nelson, 25, of Chicago, finished the fastest since Emily Jaehnig's 3:15:45 in 2016. The last three winners were all over 3:40, but Nelson finished in 3:18:49.

That compares more favorably to other finishing times over the years. Six-time winner Candace Schneider finished between 3:10 and 3:16 in five of those wins and eight-time champion Ann Heastlett was between 3:05 and 3:21. (Heaslett ran this year and finished in 10th place.)

"I'm really proud of myself," Nelson said of getting the win. "I know it's really hard for me, there are no pacers for me or anything. Whenever I see a person whether it's a half or full marathon, I tried to pass them. That gets me more motivated."

She flew from Chicago to Ironwood and was happy to get the chance to run the Paavo for the first time.

Her cross country coach when she was at Harper community college (in suburban Palatine), James MacNider, won the Paavo in 1979, and speaking of fast finishers, his time is the second fastest on record at 2:20:05.

"I was like, 'Oh maybe I should try out this race,'" Nelson said.

MacNider has five national coach of the year awards in cross country and one in track-and-field along with many other honors.

"I'm very privileged to run with him. He actually understands my pace and workout and all that stuff," Nelson said. "He really made me really love the long-distance running because I started out as a swimming and basketball player. I went out for cross country in community college for the first time. I really enjoy running with the people around me, that gets me to push a little bit faster."

She kept running at Loyola University Chicago in intramural cross country and track.

Nelson's runs in Chicago have been limited to 20 miles because of the heat. There was no heat here Saturday.

"The weather was perfect," she said. "I asked the recruiter, how hilly is this. They were like, it's smooth and hilly, it's just different kind of courses. I felt a little bit tired when we had to turn around from the 20th mile all the way down there (on County C). I knew I had to push myself the last 5K and I actually PR'd nine minute-ish, so I was really proud."

She's training for the Chicago Marathon and the New York City Marathon three weeks after that.

"I'm pretty excited for both of them," Nelson said.

It was exciting for her to win the Paavo as well. She waved to the crowd on Silver Street and blew kisses to them as well.

"I felt very, very proud," Nelson said. "Even though I was really tired. At like the 24th mile, I thought to myself I wanted to give up. But I knew I had this long two-mile stretch to go. I really did push my legs to the limit and everybody was cheering for me. It felt very good to finish. It didn't matter I was first or last place, it just feels good to finish the race, that's all that matters for me - and have fun, of course."

That's not an easy feat at the Paavo. Even without the heat, the hills didn't go anywhere.

"This is really great training, I always like to challenge myself," she said. "I'm really terrible at uphills, but I actually did uphill training with some of my racing team that I'm at."

(08/19/2024) Views: 212 ⚡AMP
by Jason Juno