Saint Lucia’s sprint sensation, Julien Alfred, captured gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m at this year’s Olympics. Following her victory, Saint Lucia was the most searched country in the world for 24 hours as millions gained interest in the country.

Sports Minister Casimir asserts that Alfred’s success proves that Saint Lucia can produce Olympic Champions and sporting investment and policies are crucial.

“There's a window of opportunity that has presented itself right now for us to have proper conversations as it pertains to sports development in Saint Lucia, as it pertains to the educational aspect of sports development, as it pertains to the strategy of honing in on skills and ensuring that we nurture athletes,” he said.

Minister Casimir says sporting development requires the cooperation of all sectors in Saint Lucia, ranging from the commercial to the education sector. He says greater integration with a sports policy in mind in the only way forward.

“I appreciate the Ministry of Education and the fact that they have come on board with the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports to establish the weekend inter-schools competition. And we continue to thank the likes of First National Bank, who's come in at $100,000 to sponsor that event. And this is where the breeding ground is going to be,” he said.

The Minister continued by saying Saint Lucians need to “come together as a nation to develop our next generation of athletes.”

The Prime Minister has confirmed that Saint Lucia will declare a National Holiday in honour of Julien Alfred.