Athletics | Audrey Leduc: “That’s the beauty of sprinting”

(Saint-Denis, France) Quebec was well and truly represented in the women’s 100-meter final at the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday evening, but not by the woman we thought.

After a convincing start with a Canadian record the day before, Audrey Leduc was unable to continue her formidable momentum from 2024, stopping in the semi-final of the main athletics event, won against all expectations by Julien Alfred, a runner from Saint Lucia trained in Texas by former Montrealer Édrick Floréal.

“I would have liked to make the final, of course, but it’s not a disappointment,” Leduc, who is discovering the Games at the age of 25, immediately announced.

In the absence of Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a surprise withdrawal from the second wave of the semi-finals due to injury, the door was wide open for the first participation of a Canadian in the final in 40 years.

A shaky start, however, dampened Leduc’s momentum, as he finished fifth in the third series in 11.10 seconds, 15 hundredths faster than his national record, beaten Friday morning in the first round. A time three hundredths slower would have allowed him to join the prestigious circle of eight finalists.

Sandwiched in lane 5 between Jamaican Tia Clayton (10.89s) and British champion Daryll Neita (10.97s), Leduc appeared to be stuck in the blocks when the gun went off. Forced to engage catch-up mode, she climbed from seventh to fourth place, before being beaten by a hundredth on the line by Germany’s Gina Luckenkemper (11.09s).

With her eyes glued to the giant screen, Leduc watched the times appear one by one, until she received confirmation that her fate was sealed.

Serene in front of the journalists, she could not say whether her starting technique had cost her the final.

“It’s happening so fast. It’s hundredths of a second. Of course my start was not as good [que vendredi] in qualifying. I don’t know if it had an impact or not. It’s a bit hard to describe. I don’t have any answers.”

In English, she said she would have needed a “perfect start” to reach the final stage. Was she let down by her nerves, having clocked the sixth fastest time in the first round? Of course, the Stade de France, packed with 70,000 spectators, was “more on fire” than the day before, an experience that was “really fun to live”. The wait during the day was a bit long, but she doesn’t think it influenced her behaviour in the evening.

“It’s certain that the stakes are different, the butterflies were there, but I was looking forward to running too. I was excited and it was going really well in the warm-up as well.”

In 2024, the woman who trains at the national center of the Claude-Robillard sports complex in Montreal ran five times a time that would have allowed her to reach the final.

In the cumulative ranking, she finished in 12th place.^e level, tied to the nearest hundredth with two other competitors, including the British Dina Asher-Smith, former vice-world champion, who was also unfortunately eliminated.

“That’s what sprinting is, that’s the beauty of it,” Leduc said. “That’s what makes a show. That’s life. I can’t say anything more. Yes, it’s a shame. At the same time, there are others who have managed to go there and that’s okay.”

She now turns her attention to the 200m, another event in which she holds the Canadian record (22.36s). She is the top seed in the fourth heat (this Sunday at 4:55 a.m. EDT), where she will need to finish in the top three to avoid having to go through the repechage on Monday at noon.

Coach Flo

In a final played in the rain, Julien Alfred clocked 10.71 seconds, the third fastest Olympic performance in history, to leave Americans Sha’Carri Richardson, silver medallist in 10.87 seconds after a poor start, and Melissa Jefferson, bronze winner in 10.92 seconds, in the fog.

Shocked at having won the very first Olympic medal for her small Caribbean island (180,000 inhabitants), the powerful Alfred – you have to see her pounding the track during her performance – celebrated with a mixture of joy and tears, turquoise flag on her shoulders.

After the official photos, she went to the other side of the track to fall into the arms of Edrick Floréal, who was coaching another athlete in the triple jump. The Quebecer of Haitian origin recruited her in 2019 to join the University of Texas Longhorns after she developed in Jamaica during her adolescence. A professional since last year, she is still evolving under his guidance in Austin.

The new Olympic champion spoke almost exclusively about “Coach Flo” during her time in the mixed zone. She dedicated her victory to God, her coach and her father who died in 2013.

World indoor 60m champion in the spring, Alfred had difficulty coping with the attention of his compatriots from Saint Lucia. Floréal was a providential support in these circumstances.

“I was very hard on myself and I felt a lot of pressure, feeling like I had to give everything for my country again,” she said at a press conference. “I saw how many people were supporting me, but he helped me turn that pressure into motivation.”

Still the Canadian triple jump record holder, Floréal headed to the United States after high school. A five-time NCAA champion, he represented Canada at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games. He also began a successful coaching career.

After stints at Stanford, Kentucky and now Texas, he has become a leading sprinter and jumper. He notably coached Jamaican Omar McLeod to an Olympic title in the 110m hurdles in 2016 and American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the current world record holder in the 400m hurdles, to an NCAA crown. He is also the coach of British sprinter Deena Asher-Smith, who was eliminated in the 100m semi-final on Saturday night.

Disappointed with her fifth place at the World Championships last year, Julien Alfred convinced herself by writing “Olympic champion” next to her name during the day on Saturday.

“I didn’t believe it, especially after my disappointment at the Worlds last year. But my coach Flo really helped me pull myself together. And he made me believe that I could be an Olympic champion.”

CPT bounces back

Eclipsed without glory in the first round of the 1500m, where he was going “backwards” in the final straight, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot proved to himself that he was truly in the form of his life by placing second in his 1500m repechage heat on Saturday night, with the best time of his season (3 min 33.53 s). The 33-year-old veteran thus ensured his participation in the semi-finals which will be contested on Sunday night at the Stade de France (3:10 p.m. EDT).

Destabilized by a fitful race scenario the day before, the middle-distance runner from Quebec was delighted to benefit from a more sustained and continuous pace during the repechage, under the impetus of the South African Ryan Mphahlele, who set out for glory before breaking down in the final loop.

“It’s just the type of race that works in my favour,” analyzed the third Canadian in history over the distance. “When the South African went super fast, it stretched out. When I have space, when I can just focus on my technique, things usually go well.”

The former Rouge et Or had a much harder time in the first round. “There were a lot of people around me and I lost my concentration, my core, my technique, all the signals I give to run well, to sprint well. Today, I was able to concentrate on my own race and execute.”

CPT used his information gathering on the giant screen to adjust for a possible comeback from the peloton while he was in third position.

“Now I just have to tell myself: I’m through, I’m equal to these guys and tomorrow is another day.” A semi-finalist in Rio in 2016, Philibert-Thiboutot will have the opportunity to reach his first Olympic final.

“On paper,” CPT admits he’s going into the race with a hold against him because of the extra race. “But I can’t afford to say I’m going into the race with a disadvantage. We’re going to do everything in my power to make sure I recover tonight.”