Julien Alfred 200m at Brussels Diamond League Final; Seeks first-ever 200m Diamond Trophy

Julien Alfred reveals biggest lesson since Paris 2024: “It’s OK to lose” - Exclusive

Julien Alfred is unbeaten over 200m in 2026, but her biggest lesson has come in defeat: “It’s OK to lose,” she told us. The Olympic champion opens up ahead of the Diamond League Final in Brussels.

Julien Alfred will put her unbeaten 200m season on the line in Brussels on Friday night (4 September) as the Saint Lucian history maker chases more Diamond League athletics history.

Alfred heads into the 2026 Diamond League Final with three wins from three in women’s 200m races this season, and the fastest time in the world this year. Victory at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme meet in Belgium would earn her a first Diamond Trophy over the distance, having already claimed the 100m title in each of the past two seasons.

This time, however, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion in the shorter outdoor distance has chosen the longer sprint.

Alfred will skip the 100m at this year’s Final and instead contest just the 200m, the final women’s event of the night. It is a notable choice given that she told Olympics.com in Zurich last week that she plans to race only the 100m at the upcoming World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest the following weekend (11-13 September).

But there is little mystery as to why the 200m final has proved so difficult to resist.

Alfred has raced the distance three times this season, all on the Diamond League circuit, and won every time.

She opened with a 21.93 victory in Rome before producing the performance of her season in Monaco, stopping the clock at 21.51, lowering her Saint Lucian national record and moving to third on the world all-time list behind only Florence Griffith Joyner and Shericka Jackson .

Eight days later, Alfred clocked 21.66 in London to beat Olympic champion Gabby Thomas , a second win this season over the woman who denied her the 200m title at Paris 2024.

Only two women in Friday’s field, U.S. duo Kayla White and Cambrea Sturgis , have come within half a second of Alfred’s best this season. Great Britain’s Amy Hunt will also arrive confident following her four-gold haul at the European Championships.

Yet for all the winning Alfred has enjoyed during another outstanding season, the 25-year-old has also learned to become more comfortable with the other side of racing.

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Alfred learns to embrace the present and take care of “body, mind and soul”

Two years on from becoming Saint Lucia’s first Olympic champion at Paris 2024, Alfred says her approach to defeat has changed.

Asked what the biggest lesson has been since her breakthrough at Paris 2024, Alfred told Olympics.com exclusively: “Losing is OK. You may not win every single thing, but how to bounce back from those losses is really what’s important.

“It’s where you really learn about yourself and who you are as an athlete, as a person.”

That mindset was tested in Silesia in August, when Alfred suffered her first defeat of the outdoor season, finishing second to reigning 100m and 200m world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden over 100m.

For Alfred, who admitted she “usually cries” after a defeat, her reaction this time was telling.

“Losing is never fun, and I think the way in which I handled that loss should have said a lot,” she said. “I didn’t cry this time. I went back to my room, I laughed, and then two days before I raced, I was like, ‘Let me lock in. Let me go back and rewatch that race and really analyse what I had to do.’

“And I did just that, and I think I’m happy with the results.”

Four days later in Zurich, Alfred produced the fastest 100m of her career, clocking a national record of 10.70 to return to her winning ways.

With a long and successful track season now approaching its final laps, Alfred’s focus has shifted towards keeping things simple.

“I think now it’s going back to myself and going back to just what my coach and I have been working on, and just honouring that and taking care of my body, mind and soul, ” she told us.

With the Diamond League Final in Brussels and the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest still to come, Alfred is trying not to look too far ahead.

“My coach is trying to think a year ahead, to be quite honest,” Alfred said. “For the past couple of years, I’ve been going into championship season and thinking about the next year, but I think now I really want to stay in the moment and realise what I have to do.

“I think the way in which I lock in whilst I’m in the moment is just something to behold, and I want to stay in that moment right now.”

By Grace Goulding ZK Goh

Athletics | Allianz Memorial Van Damme | Wanda Diamond League | Brussels | Belgium