Saint Lucia sprinter Julien Alfred has won her country’s first ever Olympic medal, taking out the women’s 100m sprint in a national record time of 10.72.

On a rainy night in Paris, Alfred tore out of the blocks and led the field for the next 90 metres, winning the gold convincingly over world number one Sha’Carri Richardson, who finished second at 10.87, and fellow American Melissa Jefferson, who won bronze with 10.92.

Alfred, the fastest in qualifying with a time of 10.84, moved to the USA when she was 14 years old to train, and now goes down in history as her country’s first ever gold medallist.

Ivory Coast legend Marie-Josse Ta Lou-Smith pulled up with a muscle twang half-way through the race and crossed the line last.

But the biggest name missing from this final was Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who did not start her semi-final earlier in the day.

Rumours emerged on social media that Fraser-Pryce, as well as Richardson, who did run the semi-final, had issues accessing the stadium for the warm-up and were not given enough time to prepare for their do-or-die race.

This was due to be Fraser-Pryce’s last Olympics, with the 37-year-old flagging earlier this year that retirement is on her horizon.

Richardson came in second in that semi-final to qualify for tonight’s final, but her quest for an Olympic gold continues following her suspension from Tokyo.

It’s the first time since 1988 that Jamaica has missed the podium in the women’s 100m, with Alfred becoming the first non-Jamaican gold medallist since 2004.