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THREE years after hitting rock bottom, Sha’Carri Richardson heads to the Olympics poised to conquer the pinnacle of her sport.
The 24-year-old Texan arrives in Paris as the reigning world champion over 100m, and the fastest woman in the world this year with a brisk 10.71sec under her belt.
Factor in the relative disarray of her main rivals, and it’s easy to see why Richardson is a heavy favourite to become the first American since Gail Devers at the 1996 Olympics to be regarded as the world’s fastest woman.
It is all a far cry from 2021, when Richardson found herself barred from competing at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for marijuana during the US trials.
That shattering loss was followed by more disappointment in 2022, when despite impressive early season form, Richardson failed to qualify for the World Championships after bombing out in the heats at the US trials.
Yet the tide turned spectacularly last season, when Richardson roared back to form at the World Championships, stunning a high-calibre field from the outside lane to snatch victory in a championship record 10.65sec.
Throughout her resurgence, Richardson has recited a personal mantra: “I’m not back. I’m better”, attributing her return to form as the result of maturing both on and off the track.
“I don’t just mean I’m a better runner,” she told Vogue magazine in a recent interview.
“It’s beyond that. I’m better at being Sha’Carri. I’m better at being myself.”
Richardson, who often gives the impression of a siege mentality, admits that the most challenging opponent has often been herself.
“These last two years I’ve always had the ingredients to be the athlete I know I can be and that I train to be,” Richardson has said.
‘I WAS ANGRY’
“I feel like where I am now, I’ve always been this person — it’s just been locked in me.
“(In 2022) I was angry. I saw red everywhere I went. And I was going to make sure everybody felt that as well.
“Now I’m at a point where I see me. And I want everybody everywhere I go to see me as well. Whether I’m running fast, or sitting here talking to you guys.”
Richardson’s penchant for long, brightly painted fingernails and colourful hairstyles has earned her comparisons to the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, whose 1988 time of 10.49sec remains the 100m world record.
Some who have studied Richardson’s running style believe she could potentially threaten Flo-Jo’s long-standing benchmark.
“She’s just built different,” said former training partner and 2004 Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin. — SuperSport.
Online Reporter