By Victor Kanayo
It was a Saturday night of surprise following spectacular performance that saw Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia stun favourite Sha’Carri Richardson of United States to win the Olympics women’s 100m gold in Paris, France.
The victory meant she etched her name into history to claim the Caribbean nation’s first ever medal at the Games.
Richardson had to settle for silver in the Olympic final of the women’s 100m.
Watched on by her grandmother, Betty Harp – known as Big Momma – Richardson ran 10.87 in the rain in Paris.
But the world champion, who missed out on the Tokyo Games after testing positive for THC – a component of marijuana – was unable to catch Alfred (10.72), who secured St Lucia’s first ever Olympic medal.
America’s Melissa Jefferson finished third, taking bronze with a time of 10.92.
Earlier, Nigeria’s only girl Rosemary Chukwuma who qualified for the semi-final of 100m race finished last and failed to reach the final.
Favourites Favour Ofili of Nigeria couldn’t compete in the race after Nigerian government officials failed to submit her name for the race.
