By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor
Photos: NBCOlympics
From David W. Carter High School to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dallas native Sha’Carri Richardson has left her mark.
She’ll leave yet another mark this summer at the Paris Olympics after winning the 100-meter race in the Olympic Trials on Saturday night with the world’s fastest time.
After her lightning quick performance before thousands gathered at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, the 24-year-old reigning 100-meter world champion will make her Olympic debut this summer in Paris.
She finished first with a time of 10.71 seconds in the 100-meter race finals night to qualify for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry also punched their tickets to Paris by finishing second and third, respectively.
Richardson will now represent Team USA at the Paris Games. This will be the sprinter’s first Olympic appearance since turning professional out of LSU in 2019. Richarson, whose glamours outfits, hair and nails are modeled after the late great track start Florence Griffith-Joyner, missed out on the 2020 Tokyo Games despite winning the 100-meter trials race after testing positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
The sprinter is now considered a favorite for a gold medal in the 100-meter race
this summer.
Locally, in 2023, a track at John Kincaide Stadium in Dallas was renamed the Sha’Carri Richardson Track and November 10, 2023 was declared Sha’Carri Richardson Day in Dallas.
It’s been a whirlwind and historic year for Richarson. Last August, she finished with a time of 10.65 in Budapest, Hungary, the fastest 100-meter sprint ever recorded at the World Athletics Championships. That race also tied for the fifth-fastest of all time, 0.16 seconds behind the world record of 10.49 set by Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
As a freshman at LSU, Richarson ran with a time of 10.75 seconds to break the 100-meter collegiate record at the NCAA Division I Championships. This winning time made her one of the ten fastest women in history at 19-years-old.
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