St. Lucia’s Sprint queen Julien Alfred will not be participating in the upcoming Commonwealth Games. The event, which is scheduled for July 23rd – August 2nd 2026, will take place in Glasgow, Scotland.
A statement issued by the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee Inc. (SLOC) / Saint Lucia Commonwealth Games Association details the circumstances surrounding the revelation of the decision.
“The Saint Lucia Olympic Committee Inc. / Saint Lucia Commonwealth Games Association is extremely disappointed re Julien Alfred’s non participation at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
Following talks with both Alfred and her manager Henry Rolles in 2025, our organisation was told that the Commonwealth Games would be included in her 2026 schedule.
We learnt of Julien’s non participation at the Games during a meeting with the Athletics Association which was called to finalise plans for the team’s participation.
Having received this unfortunate news, we requested from the Athletics Association to obtain full disclosure from Julien’s management team as to why the commitment given to participate in 2025 has now been withdrawn.
The SLAA did write seeking clarification and forwarded the SLOC Inc. / Saint Lucia Commonwealth Games Association a one liner response from Mr. Rolles.
Having seen the gentleman’s response to the SLAA we immediately contacted Mr. Rolles ourselves seeking full disclosure.
He provided a rather lengthy response to us which we considered rather unfortunate.
The SLOC Inc. has a clear pathway for all athletes hoping to represent our nation at the 2028 Summer Olympics and our Committee remains steadfast in the implementation of this policy and will continue to work with all National Federations to ensure that Saint Lucia’s eligible athletes are afforded every opportunity to prepare for and excel at the highest levels of international competition both under our banner and that of their National Federation.
The SLOC Inc. / Saint Lucia Commonwealth Games Association though disappointed wishes Ms. Alfred continued success in her career and looks forward to supporting her future international engagements under our banner in the leadup to LA 2028.”