Two steps before reaching the finish line, Sha'Carey Richardson began pounding his chest.
She knew she had won, and anyone who didn't think she was a sprinter who could be beaten at the Paris Olympics should think again.
Richardson set the latest record for the “I'm Not Back, I'm Better” tour on Saturday when she ran the 100 meters in 10.71 seconds at the USA Track Meet, making her the fastest woman in the world in 2024 and officially clinching a ticket to France when the women's race begins on Aug. 2.
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Richardson got off to a slow start in his third start of the meet and had to fight back, but he finished strong in three consecutive races.
She was 0.09 seconds ahead of her training partner Melissa Jefferson, the 2022 U.S. champion. Towanisha Terry, another sprinter from coach Dennis Mitchell's camp, finished third and also earned a spot on the women's 100-meter team.
“I'm honored,” Richardson said. “I feel like everything I've been through in my life has prepared me for this moment.”
It was a tough race for the 24-year-old Texan, who also won this race three years ago (10.86 seconds). The victory was stripped away Her positive marijuana test exposed everything from her own struggles with depression to anti-doping rules that have not changed with the times.
With her orange hair flying, lighting up Hayward Field here in 2021, Richardson presented herself as someone new, better and more in tune with who she was before she looked like the sport's breakout star.
But she stayed home for the Tokyo Olympics and began training on and off the track. It took almost two years, but she won a national championship in 2023, declaring, “I'm not back, I'm just better,” and backing it up a month later. Win a World Title.
Handing her the gold in Paris would be a risky move given the competition she will face: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sherica Jackson and two-time champion Elaine Thompson-Heller all have Olympic medals and are all set to compete in next weekend's Jamaican qualifiers.
Thompson-Heller's recent injury has muddied that calculation, making Fraser-Pryce a rare commodity in 2024.
This made Richardson an early favourite to win and it's hard to argue with that, given that he had a better season's best time despite a mediocre start, only to retire before the end of the race, smacking his chest.
Earlier Saturday morning, reigning world champion Noah Lyles ran the 100-meter heat in 9.92 seconds, the fastest time in the first round of men's qualifying.
Like Richardson, Lyles suffered from depression during the Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, and competed in the Olympics but only managed a bronze medal in the 200 meters.
“It's been a really long, long time,” Lyles said, “and I'm happy and I'm just happy to be here and to be racing and to be myself.”
