Saint Lucia and Dominica Just Won Their First Olympic Medals Ever—And They’re Gold

Saint Lucia and Dominica Just Won Their First Olympic Medal Ever—And They're Gold

Two Caribbean athletes just made history at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games—winning their countries their first ever Olympic medals. And not just any medals; both were gold.

Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred beat out Team USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning World Champion who was heavily favored to take home the gold in the women’s 100-m sprint on Saturday. Alfred won the race by 0.15 seconds. Another American, Melissa Jefferson, took bronze. 

“I’m still trying to think of what just happened,” Alfred said after the race in Stade de France. “It hasn't sunk in yet." In Saint Lucia’s capital of Castries, people gathered to watch Alfred make history.

“I’m just looking forward to the celebration when I go home,” she said. 

Alfred woke up Saturday at 5 a.m. and wrote in her journal:

Julien Alfred, Olympic Champion

She also took a picture on Snapchat after eating breakfast and said it.  

Julien Alfred, Olympic Champion

Alfred beat Richardson in the semifinal while running in the lane next to the defending world champ. Did she think that sent a message for the final? “I don't think about sending a message,” Alfred said “This year. I've really been trying to focus on just mainly thinking of my execution instead of thinking about who's next to me. Sometimes when I do that, I tend to panic.”

She hopes to increase St. Lucia’s visibility. She’s a little tired of Uber drivers, after hearing her Carribean accent, saying “where’s that?” when asking where she’s from. “I just feel so honored to wear my country's name across my chest,” she says. 

When did she know she had the race won? 

“This morning.” 

Roughly an hour on Saturday before Alfred’s medal, Thea LaFond made history for Dominica when she won the gold with a 15.02 meter jump in the triple jump—earning the country its first-ever Olympic medal. 

Earlier this year, LaFond won the triple jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow. “I am the only athlete here from my country, so to be able to come out and get the best possible outcome and put this little island on the map is a privilege,” she said after the win, according to worldathletics.org. “This one is for my people. I don’t even know what to say any more!”

Saint Lucia and Dominica have a combined population of roughly 250,000. Dominica began competing in the Olympics in 1993, while Saint Lucia made its Olympic debut in 1996.

What should people know about Dominica, TIME asked LaFond after her victory?

“O.K, we'll start with the basics,” LaFond said. First, it’s pronounced DOM-IN-E-CA. “We're not the Dominican Republic. So it's pronounced differently. We're about roughly 70,000 people. Not 7 million, not 700,000 And it is a gorgeous, gorgeous gem in the Caribbean. It is near Martinique and Guadeloupe. The French people will know, they are French islands. Neighbors include Saint Lucia, Barbados, and further south Trinidad [and] Tobago. Our primary language is English.” 

“And now they have an Olympics gold medalist.”