Sha’Carri Richardson has stunned the world at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary to become the world’s fastest woman. The 23-year-old won the100-meter world championship title with a record 10.65 seconds.
Richardson’s defeated Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who finished second and third.
“I’m honored, I’m blessed, I had great competition, [which] pulled the best out of me, and I’m just honored to leave with a gold medal,” she told reporters after the race.
After suffering a backlash in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, Richardson promised to keep working and improving.
“I’m going to stay humble,” she said. “I’m not back. I’m better, and I’ll continue to be better.”
Her win is the first women’s 100-meter world championship by an American since 2017, when Tori Bowie accomplished the feat.
Richardson’s presence in the 100-meter final marked a notable achievement filled with tension.
Although she secured the third position in her semifinal heat, which didn’t grant her an automatic qualification for the title race, her journey to the final was filled with ups and downs.
During her start in the semifinal, Richardson had a sluggish beginning and deviated a bit to the right during her initial strides, resulting in a loss of valuable seconds.
Despite these challenges, she demonstrated a strong finish, evidenced by her impressive time of 10.84 seconds in the semifinals.
This performance outshined all other competitors not in the top two positions, thus securing her a deserving place in the final race.
“She was more than capable of running 10.65; we knew that,” said her agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, himself a former world class sprinter and hurdler. “We just knew that running it on the biggest stage in the world is a lot harder than just saying it.”
Monday night marked a major turnaround for Richardson, who failed to advance out of the 100-meter heats at last year’s U.S. Track and Field Championships.
“I’m just so proud of her, because a year ago we were light-years away from a full package of being able to compete at this level, and she’s put in the work,” Nehemiah said.
In 2021, Richardson seemed to secure her place at the postponed Tokyo Games following her victory in the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials held in Eugene, Oregon.
However, her participation in Tokyo was derailed as she was suspended due to testing positive for THC, the active component in cannabis.
She took ownership of her actions, explaining that she used the substance as a way to cope with the stress brought on by her mother’s unexpected passing.
Even prior to her recent victory, she was already seen as a top contender for a spot in the Paris Olympics after winning the U.S. 100-meter championship just last month.
Richardson expressed her desire that her journey in the world of track and field would encourage fans to view athletes beyond just their performance outcomes.
“It felt amazing just knowing that not only [do] people see me as an athlete but as a person,” she said. “I want people to see that it goes beyond [being an] athlete, You bring who you are onto the track. You bring your athlete into your life.”
