Sha’Carri Richardson is a name that we have all heard in the athletics world in the past couple of years. She was unfairly left out of an important year of competing after turning back a positive drug test after smoking a joint following the news of a terrible personal tragedy. Despite taking a year off of competing, she came back with a vengeance — and she was faster than ever.
She won the 100M at the World Championships in Budapest last year in 2023 and was poised to win the 100M race this year in the Paris Olympics. But not everything went according to plan. What happened to her game plan, and how did Alfred take the gold medal right out of her hands?
Sha’Carri Richardson and the 100M
Julien Alfred went on to win the 100M in spectacular fashion, giving Saint Lucia not only their first-ever Olympics medal, but the first gold medal for the tiny island country. Although this is a fantastic story of motivation and belief, it doesn’t help Sha’Carri Richardson and her belief that she had in her own ability to return back to the USA with gold.
Alfred crossed the line in a speedy 10.72 seconds, beating Sha’Carri Richardson by .15 seconds. In the 100M, that is a fair margin. Richardson got a poor start off the line and never looked like she was coming back to catch Alfred, who shot out of the blocks like she was on fire. Richardson seemed to settle for second place and resigned to the silver medal in her first Olympic games.
So, how did this happen?
Richardson established herself as the fastest woman in the world at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, winning by setting an incredible 10.65 seconds, which is a championship record and almost one second faster than what Alfred ran in the Olympics race just a few days ago.
Plus, Shericka Jackson from Jamaica pulled out of the 100M race so she could focus all of her energy and rest her body for the 200M race that is coming up this week. She placed well in the semifinals, so she should make it to the final round to face off against Gabrielle Thomas.
Another surprise omission from the final 100M race was Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, arguably one of the most decorated Olympians and sprinters of all time. There was a mishap and miscommunication with the training gate, and where to enter, so she was denied entry to the track. Then, she stated that she had a slight injury and pulled out of the race minutes before it began.
With two Jamaicans not toeing the line, it seemed like Sha’Carri Richardson was a shoo-in for the gold medal. But, when it comes to favorites and the pressure, sometimes it can be too much.
Sha’Carri Richardson 4×100 M Relay
The next event that you can watch Sha’Carri Richardson run in is the 4×100 m relay. She missed out on the 200M race when she failed to qualify and posted a fast-enough time to beat out the other Americans in the competition. Therefore, she only ran the 100M and the 4x100M this year in the Paris Olympics.
Unfortunately for the Americans watching at home, she won’t be in the 200M race. We would have loved to see her, as she was the bronze medalist in the 200M race in past years.
The women’s 4x100M relay starts with round one on Thursday, August 8th, followed by the finals just one day later on August 9th. Let’s hope that Richardson can turn her luck around and work together with her teammates to secure the gold medal for Team USA.
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