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The 2024 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field have gotten off to an exciting start. Star sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson took the oval on Saturday for a chance to qualify for Team USA's women's 100-meter dash team for the Paris Summer Games, and she did not disappoint.
Richardson ran a 2024 world-leading time of 10.71 to beat the field and secure her spot in Paris. The 24-year-old displayed an outpour of emotion when she crossed the line and realized her accomplishment, as shown by the NBC Olympics X page:
Sha’Carri Richardson runs the fastest 100m in the world this year to qualify for the #ParisOlympics! pic.twitter.com/ke9xz7EZ7H
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 23, 2024
Richardson edged Melissa Jefferson and TeeTee Jerry, who finished second and third with times of 10.80 and 10.89, respectively. All three athletes will represent the U.S. at the 2024 Olympics. Richardson's continual comeback to the top of the professional scene has fans buzzing and singing her praises:
“Congrats 2 Sha’Carri Richardson on winning women’s 100 meters Nationals. With a better start and Sha’Carri can run sub 10.6. Her 50-meter and beyond speed is crazy. Congrats 2 Melissa Jefferson and TT Terry as well..We got something 4 them Jamaican women again,” NFL legend and sports commentator Shannon Sharpe wrote.
The excitement for Richardson did not end there.
“SHA'CARRI!!!! She’s going to Paris!!! #OlympicTrials,” X user OGhoopsprguy exclaimed.
“Redemption, Part I. On to Paris!” the user added.
Another fan praised Richardson for her mid-race tactics after she got out to a shaky start.
“[Richardson] again wasn’t first out the blocks, eased up, and still went 10.71…in control running,” Lawrence Jackson Jr. wrote.
The significance of Sha'Carri Richardson's 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials feat
Sha'Carri Richardson made headlines in 2021 when the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced her competitive results at the U.S. Olympic Trials, medals, points, and prizes were disqualified due to a failed drug test stemming from cannabis use. As a result, Richardson missed the Tokyo Games despite qualifying in the 100m.
Richardson accepted a required one-month period of ineligibility and completed a counseling program regarding her cannabis use. It took the star sprinter a while to regain form, but she has impressively bounced back and will now head to her first career Olympics in 2024.
Richardson was expected to be a top contender in the 100m due to her talent and impressive resume. She is a two-time World Champion, a one-time World Championships Bronze medalist, a one-time Pan American U20 champion, and a four-time Diamond League meeting winner, per her World Athletics profile. Richardson will look to win her first Olympic medal in the 2024 Summer Games. She is not the only one looking for success in Paris.
2021 Tokyo Olympics 200-meter Bronze Medalist Noah Lyles is also competing at the US Olympic Trials for spots in the 200m and 100m. Lyles has been on a tear since the last Sumer Games. Lyles earned gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay at the 2023 World Athletic Championships. He will be running the men's 100m Trials semifinal on Sunday night and the first round of the 200m on Thursday, June 27th.
Sha'Carri Richardson is also expected to compete in the first round of the 200m Trials on Thursday. Will the star sprinter claim another world-leading time and earn her second spot in Paris?
