Sha’Carri Richardson will not be in the 200-meter dash at…
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson won gold in the women’s 100-meter race on Monday at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, defeating a highly skilled field of competitors.
Richardson broke the world championship record with her lightning-fast 10.65 performance, creating a new best in Lane 9, whereas a star-studded field of competitors, including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica and Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, had a better starting position.
With a world record of 10.49, Florence Griffith-Joyner is the only person to have ever run a faster time in the 100-meter event. With her performance, Richardson ties for the fifth-fastest female 100-meter record in history.
Richardson’s aspirations to compete in the Olympics were dashed just two years ago when she tested positive for marijuana use, which resulted in a suspension. Since she was not permitted to compete in Tokyo that year, it happened after she won the 100-meter race at the 2021 Olympic trials.
With the 2024 Paris Games on the horizon, Richardson, 23, is now at the top of the women’s sprinting division thanks to this performance, which seemed to startle her as she crossed the finish line.
Richardson’s lane position is unusual for the race winner, but she is not used to running 10.84 in her semifinal heat after a poor start. There, she finished third, behind Ivory Coast’s Marie Jose Ta Lou and Jackson.
Richardson was forced to wait to find out if the other semifinal heat’s speeds were quicker enough to disqualify her from the championship race. But she made it to the final, and she did her best given the unfavorable lane position.
She wore her gold medal around her neck and an American flag around her neck, and Richardson was in amazement, kissing the sky. She also screamed with excitement, releasing all of her emotions.
Richardson also defeated Tamari Davis (10.99) and Brittany Brown (10.90) in the 100-meter finals held in July at the U.S. championships. Following that triumph, the former LSU great declared, “I am not back, I am better.”
