Sha’Carri Richardson ran for redemption Saturday night.
The 24-year-old sprinter won silver in the women’s 100m final at the Paris Olympics on August 3, three years after she was controversially banned from the Tokyo Games.
Richardson ran the sprint in 10.87, finishing 0.15 behind first-place Julien Alfredo of St. Lucia.
She looked disappointed in her finish, but celebrated with her training partner and third-place finisher, American Melissa Jefferson.
Richardson was a heavy favorite to win the 100m, especially after easily winning the heat and finishing second in her semi-final earlier on Saturday.
Record holder Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100 meters championship: ‘She is the best in the world’
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred (right) beats Sha’Carri Richardson (left) for gold in the 100m final.
ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images
This is Richardson’s first Olympics since being disqualified from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after being suspended from the US team after testing positive for THC. In the three years since, she has been dominant on the world stage, winning several Diamond League meets, the 2023 USA Outdoor National Championships and the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the 100m and 200m events.
It was at the World Championships in Athletics that Richardson broke the world record for 100 meters, and she was the first to declare her new motto: “I’m not back, I’m better.”
“That tagline comes from knowing that I’ve been in the world. I’ve been in the world in a way that isn’t necessarily a way that a lot of people can handle or really recover or survive,” she told PEOPLE in December 2023.
Sha’Carri Richardson, Jordan Chiles and Kristie Mewis on ‘Trying to Take Over’ the Sports World as Female Athletes (Exclusive)
“And the fact that I can stand here and be the athlete that I was, the woman that I was,” Richardson says, “I’m wiser. I am calmer, more disciplined and more focused on the responsibility I have as well as my passion for what I do.”
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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education