Two steps before reaching the finish line, Sha'Carri Richardson began pounding on his chest.
She knew she had won it. Anyone who doesn't see her as the sprinter to beat at the Paris Olympics should probably think again.
Richardson made the final stop on her “I'm Not Back, I'm Better” tour with a 10.71-second 100-meter sprint at the U.S. track trials on Saturday that makes her the woman fastest in the world in 2024 and officially. it earned her a trip to France where the women start racing on August 2.
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Richardson, who for the third time in the meeting did not start well and had to make up ground, also finished well in the clearing 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 field, Twanisha Terry, finished third and also earned a spot in the women's 100 meter team.
“I'm honored,” Richardson said. “I feel like every chapter I've lived in my life has prepared me for this moment.”
It's been quite a ride for the 24-year-old Texan. Three years ago, he also won this race (in 10.86 seconds), only to see victory stripped away due to a positive marijuana test that exposed everything from his own struggles with depression to anti-doping regulations that hadn't changed with the times.
Richardson has portrayed himself as a new, better, more polished person than the one who lit up this same Hayward Field in 2021 — his orange hair flowing, looking like the sport's breakout star.
But staying home for the Tokyo Olympics, she began working on herself both on and off the court. It took almost two years, but he won the national championship in 2023 and declared “I'm not back, I'm better,” then confirmed it a month later. with the world title.
Handing her the gold medal in Paris is risky given the competition she will face. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and two-time defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah have Olympic medals and are all scheduled to compete in next weekend's Jamaican trials.
A recent injury to Thompson-Herah has mixed up the math and Fraser-Pryce has been a rare commodity in 2024.
It leaves Richardson as the early favourite, and considering she ran a season-best time despite a mediocre start and banging her chest and pulling herself up before the end of the race, it's hard to argue with that.
Earlier Saturday, reigning world champion Noah Lyles ran his 100 preliminary heat in 9.92 seconds, the fastest time in the first round of men's qualifying.
Lyles, like Richardson, dealt with depression in the days leading up to the COVID-fueled Tokyo Olympics. He made it to the games but won a bronze medal in the 200.
“It's been a 'long time' for a long time,” Lyles said. “And I'm just really happy to be happy, happy to be out here, happy to be running and feeling like myself.”
