Two steps before reaching the finish line, Sha’Carri Richardson started pounding her chest.
She knew she had won. Anyone who doesn’t see her as the runner to beat at the Paris Olympics should probably think again.
In the latest stop on her “I’m not back, I’m better” tour, Richardson ran the 100 meters in 10.71 seconds at the U.S. track trials on Saturday, making her the world’s fastest woman in 2024 and officially earning her a trip to France, where the women’s running season begins on Aug. 2.
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Richardson, who had a poor start for the third time in the event and had to make amends, also performed well for the third consecutive race.
She was .09 seconds ahead of training partner Melissa Jefferson, the 2022 U.S. champion. Twanisha Terry, another runner from coach Dennis Mitchell’s camp, finished third and also made the women’s 100m team.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Richardson said. “I feel like every chapter of my life has prepared me for this moment.”
It’s been an exciting ride for the 24-year-old Texan. He won the race three years ago (in 10.86 seconds), only to see victory snatched away Because he tested positive for marijuana, exposing everything from his struggles with depression to an anti-doping rulebook that hadn’t changed with the times.
Richardson has painted himself as a newer, better and more consistent man than the one who lit up this same Hayward Field in 2021 — his orange hair flowing, looking like the game’s breakout star.
But she stayed home for the Tokyo Olympics, working on herself both on and off the track. It took nearly two years, but she won the national championships in 2023 and declared “I’m not back, I’m better,” then reiterated her point a month later with the world title,
Giving her the gold medal in Paris is risky, as she will face so much competition. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and two-time champion Elaine Thompson-Herah have Olympic medals and all have to compete at the Jamaican trials next weekend.
The recent injury to Thompson-Herah has complicated the maths and Fraser-Pryce becomes a rarity in 2024.
That makes Richardson the early favorite, and considering she bettered her season-best time despite a mediocre start and some chest-pounding and pulling up before the end of the race, it’s hard to argue.
Earlier on Saturday, defending world champion Noah Lyles finished the 100-meter preliminary heat in 9.92 seconds, the fastest time in the first round of men’s qualifying.
Like Richardson, Lyles also struggled with depression during the COVID-19 days of the Tokyo Olympics. He made it to the Games but only won a bronze medal in the 200m.
“It’s been a while,” Lyles said. “And I’m just happy to be here, happy to be racing and feeling like myself.”
