EUGENE, Ore. — Has Shakari Richardson's time come? If the U.S. Olympic track and field selections are any indicator, the answer appears to be yes.
Richardson easily won the women's 100 metres in a world-leading time of 10.71 seconds.
Although Richardson got off to a slow start, he was overtaken by the other runners at the 60-meter mark and finished with a large lead, securing his ticket to the Paris Olympics.
“This time around, I definitely still felt confident and excited as I always do, but more than that, I just felt overwhelming joy,” Richardson said after the race.
The reigning world champion won the opening round of the 100m despite a false start and loose shoelaces, outran the other sprinters in the semi-finals and then put in an impressive performance in the final.
Melissa Jefferson took second place with a personal best time of 10.80. Towanisha Terry took third place with a time of 10.98.
Richardson, Jefferson and Terry, who train together, will compete in the Paris Olympics.
“This win is definitely validation of the year we've been training for. We've been preparing for this moment. It's a full circle moment,” Richardson said. “We're thankful and appreciative and we're very excited to continue to grow and build off of this momentum we've already built.”
“I'm so excited to continue moving forward with my girls. We didn't announce it to the world, but the world already knew. … We knew this moment was possible if we put our minds, bodies and spirits into it.”
Richardson is in the midst of a great period in her career — she won gold at the 2023 World Championships, beat a strong international field at the Prefontaine Classic and won again, this time at the U.S. Trials — and her performances have made her one of the brightest stars heading into Paris.
This will be Richardson's second time competing in the 100 meters at an Olympic Games. However, she made international headlines after testing positive for THC at the 2021 Olympic Trials, after which she was suspended for one month and barred from competing in the 100 meters at the Olympics.
But this time, Richardson is poised not only to compete in Paris, but to also compete in the Olympics as the favorite to win the 100 meters.
“Everything I've been through, I've been through to live in the moment,” Richardson said, “and going into the Olympics, I'm not going to put a time on myself, I just know if I finish the race that I've trained and prepared for, the time will come. I'm just excited to go out there and run a well-executed race.”
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