EUGENE, Ore. — Is it Sha’Carri Richardson’s time? If the US Olympic trials are any indication, the answer appears to be yes.
Richardson cruised to victory in the women’s 100m in a world-leading time of 10.71 seconds.
Richardson got off to a slow start but outpaced the other sprinters in the 60m and crossed the line well ahead to stamp her ticket to the Paris Olympics.
“This time, I feel like it was more — definitely still confident, still my exciting, normal self, but more of the overwhelming feeling of joy,” Richardson said after the game.
The world champion won the opening heat of the 100m despite a poor start and a loose string. He ran with the other sprinters in the semi-finals and then made an impressive statement in the final.
Melissa Jefferson ran a personal best 10.80 to place second. Twanisha Terry was third with a time of 10.98.
Richardson, Jefferson and Terry, who all train together, will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
“It definitely confirmed the year we’ve been training for. We’ve been preparing for this moment, it’s a full circle moment,” Richardson said. “We are thankful and grateful and I am very excited to grow and build on this momentum that we have already created.
“It’s beyond exciting to keep moving forward with my girls. We didn’t alert the world, the world already knew. …We knew this moment could be possible if we put our minds, bodies and spirits to her .”
Richardson is on an impressive career path. He won gold at the 2023 world track and field championships, beat a strong international field at the Prefontaine Classic and now added another first-place finish at the U.S. trials. Her performances made her one of the brightest stars headed to Paris.
This is the second time Richardson has qualified for the Olympics in the 100. But Richardson made international headlines after the 2021 Olympic trials when she tested positive for THC. She was then suspended for a month and her disqualification was extended to the 100 meters of the Olympiakos.
This time, though, Richardson is ready to not only compete in Paris, but enter the Olympics as the top seed in the 100.
“Everything I’ve been through is everything I’ve been through to be in this moment in this moment,” Richardson said. “And I would say going into the (Olympics), I don’t give myself time, I just know that if I execute and run the race that I’ve been training and preparing for, the time is coming. excited to go out there and run a well executed race.”
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