On Thursday, Sha’Carri Richardson took a step toward winning her first gold medal at the Olympics.
The anchor leg of the 4×100-meter semifinal was run by Richardson, the 100-meter silver medalist.
In their heat, the US team placed first, clocking in at 41.94 seconds. It was the qualifying round’s fastest time for any team.
Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Twanisha Terry, and 100-meter bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson make up the team.
On Friday at roughly 12:30 p.m., the women’s 4×100-meter final will take place.
For the 24-year-old Richardson, the Paris Olympics have been a long time coming since she was denied the chance to compete in the Tokyo Games.
Despite winning the trials, Richardson was not allowed to join the team because of a positive marijuana test.
She subsequently disclosed to media that she smoked marijuana to help her deal with her biological mother’s passing, which occurred a few days before the 2021 qualification.
Then, in 2022, she had trouble on the track.
Richardson was eliminated from the U.S. championships after the first round.
But Sha’Carri persisted in her efforts to get back to the Olympic arena.
“There was a time when I could have been completely destroyed, but I made the right decision at that very moment. I decided to wise up. I decided to let that experience shape who I am,” she remarked.
In the 100-meter race at the Budapest 2023 world championships, Richardson took home the gold medal.
Richardson declared in November of last year, “I’m not back, I’m better,” before a crowd at Dallas’ John Kincade Stadium.
In the U.S. qualifiers, she ran an incredible 10.71 to secure her place on the Olympic squad.
Richardson was favored to win the 100-meter gold medal going into the Olympics, but Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia defeated him.
Although Richardson attended Kathleen Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy, she was an eight-time state champion track athlete at David W. Carter High School.
In November of last year, Carter High School’s John Kincade Stadium formally renamed its track after the world champion sprinter.
“I notice the young girl who was standing at Kincade just now. I informed my mother that I wanted to excel. I expressed my desire to improve to my godparents. Richardson stated at the time, “I told my family I want to take care of them and being here in that moment, able to look back and see that I’m able to do that and more, I don’t want to stop.”
On November 10, 2023—the day of the stadium renaming—the City of Dallas issued a proclamation designating November 10, 2023 as Sha’Carri Richardson Day.
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