Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred made an impressive season debut over 60m on Saturday, clocking 7.00sec at a minor meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The 24-year-old St. Lucian blazed through her first heat in 7.04sec and then exploded to 7.00 in the final, establishing a world leading-time in the indoor “Woo Pig Classic.” Alfred, who trains in Texas, was crowned world indoor 60m champion in 2024 in Glasgow.
She is the second-fastest performer in the event’s history with her time of 6.94 in 2023.
The reigning Olympic champion won gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m in Paris in 2024 and captured World Championship bronze last year in Tokyo.
This year’s indoor athletics season will culminate in the World Championships in Torun, Poland, from March 20 to 22.
The reigning World Indoor 60-metre champion has set an audacious target for 2026: to shatter one of athletics’ oldest records.
Alfred, who jointly holds the title of second-fastest woman in history over 60 metres, will launch her campaign at the prestigious Millrose Games in New York City on February 11.
This marks her highly anticipated return to the short indoor sprint, an event she “really loves” but skipped entirely during the last campaign.
Her mission is clear: to eclipse the 32-year-old world record of 6.92 seconds, set by Russia’s Irina Privalova in 1993. Alfred’s personal best stands at a tantalising 6.94, a mere two-hundredths of a second from immortality.
“I’m really looking forward to competing in the 60m again,” Alfred said on the CITIUS MAG podcast. “It’s a fun year for me doing the things that I actually love and enjoy. I’m actually really excited.”
Now, with no major outdoor global championship in 2026, Alfred is seizing the opportunity to chase indoor history. Currently blending vacation with preparation at home in St Lucia, she has returned to training since early November following duties as a tourism ambassador in Europe.
The Millrose Games will provide an immediate blockbuster test. The field includes American rival Aleia Hobbs, who shares Alfred’s 6.94-second best, and the defending Millrose champion Jacious Sears.
Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, a former training partner, adds further elite competition.
Alfred is no stranger to The Armoury track, holding the meet record of 6.99 seconds from 2024. That performance is one of her five career sub-seven-second runs, a tally that pales next to Privalova’s 13, but places her among the event’s legends like Merlene Ottey and Gail Devers.
Her pedigree in the event traces back to her collegiate days at the University of Texas, where she became the third-fastest teenager ever before the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended her 2020 season.