St Lucia's Julien Alfred makes history as she sprints to Olympic gold medal

Alfred crossed the line in 10.72 seconds, ahead of the United States' Sha'Carri Richardson in second and Melissa Jefferson in third.

It was a first ever medal in the history of the Olympic Games for the Caribbean nation of St Lucia and Alfred made sure it would be gold.

It was the culmination of a journey that began at the age of six or seven at Leon Comprehensive School in Castries, the capital of St Lucia, when the librarian noticed her potential as she was beating the boys.

Yet there were bumps on the way too. Most notably when she quit the sport, at 12, when her father died. But she was persuaded to return.

It was agonising for Great Britain's Daryll Neita, who after a photo finish with the United States' Jefferson, had to settle for fourth place and miss out on a medal by just four one hundredths of a second.

Earlier, Team GB's 4×400 metres mixed relay team of Sam Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson and Amber Anning secured Olympic bronze and a new national record.

It was Team GB's first athletics medal of Paris 2024, with a time of 3:08.01, after qualifying third-fastest on Friday.

The United States, who set a world record 3:07.41 in the qualifiers, settled for second after the Netherlands' Femke Bol laid down a 47.93 anchor leg to claim the title for the Dutch in a thrilling finish.

READ MORE: Zheng Qinwen wins gold to become China's first Olympic tennis singles champion