Two steps before she reached the finish line, Sha’Carri Richardson started pounding her chest.
She knew she had won. Anyone who doesn’t see her as the sprinter to beat at the Paris Olympics should probably think again.
Richardson completed the final stop on her “I’m Not Back, I’m Better” tour with a 10.71-second 100-meter sprint at U.S. track trials on Saturday, making her the fastest woman in the world in 2024 and officially earned her a trip to France, where the women will begin racing on August 2.
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Richardson, who did not start well for the third time in the meet and had to make up ground, also finished clear for the third race in a row.
She was 0.09 seconds ahead of training partner Melissa Jefferson, the 2022 U.S. champion. Another sprinter in coach Dennis Mitchell’s camp, Twanisha Terry, finished third and also earned a spot on the women’s 100-meter team.
“I feel honored,” Richardson said. “I feel like every chapter I’ve been through in my life has prepared me for this moment.”
It’s been quite a ride for the 24-year-old Texan. She also won this race three years ago (in 10.86 seconds), only to see the victory disappear due to a positive marijuana test that exposed everything from her own struggles with depression to an anti-doping rulebook that hadn’t changed over time.
Richardson has portrayed herself as a new, better and more in tune person than the one who lit up this same Hayward Field in 2021 — her orange hair flowing and looking like the sport’s breakout star.
But she stayed home for the Tokyo Olympics and started working on herself both on and off the track. It took almost two years, but she won the national championship in 2023, declaring, “I’m not back, I’m better,” confirming it a month later. with the world title.
Presenting her with the gold medal in Paris is a risky undertaking considering the competition she faces. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and two-time defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah have Olympic medals and will all compete in next weekend’s Jamaican trials.
A recent injury to Thompson-Herah has made Math and Fraser-Pryce a rare commodity in 2024.
It leaves Richardson as the early favorite, and considering she improved on a season-best time despite a mediocre start and the chest-thumping and pull-ups before the end of the race, it’s hard to argue with that.
Earlier on Saturday, reigning world champion Noah Lyles ran his 100 preliminary in 9.92 seconds, the fastest time in the first round of men’s qualifying.
Lyles, like Richardson, dealt with depression during the COVID-fueled days of the Tokyo Olympics. He made it to the Games, but took a bronze medal in the 200.
“It’s been a long ‘long’ time,” Lyles said. “And I’m just so happy that I’m happy, happy to be here, happy to be racing and feeling like myself.”
