Sha’Carri Richardson dominates in her 2024 Paris Olympics debut in 100m heat

Former LSU star Sha’Carri Richardson dominated her heat in the prelims at the Paris Olympics on Friday, clocking a 10.94-second 100m dash. The sprint champion at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Richardson was less than a half-second shy of the world record time of 10.49 seconds.

Racing in lane six, she had no trouble edging out her heat mates to qualify for the next round. Only two other sprinters posted 100m dash times quicker than Richardson’s in the first round. Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Cote D’Ivoire posted a 10.87, while Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price had a 10.92.

“To be at the Olympics is a phenomenal feeling, to be an athlete here, competing with great energy,” Richardson said on Friday. “I’m super excited and eager to compete on the Olympic stage.”

There were eight heats total of women running the 100m dash in the opening round on Friday. The top three finishers in each heat, plus the next five fastest overall, advance to the quarter-finals later this session. Richardson’s U.S. teammates, Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, also advanced to the semifinals.

Richardson has chance to be one of brightest stars at Olympics

Richardson is being billed as one of the biggest stars of the Olympics, which start next month in Paris. However, she needed to make the team to step into and embrace that role. This time three years ago, she won the Trials, enchanting fans with her personality and style. But she saw that opportunity disappear when she tested positive for marijuana. She was suspended for four weeks. The suspension included the track competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

She pulled herself up from that devastating mistake and won last year’s world title. With the time she ran Saturday, she is considered the favorite to take gold over the Jamaicans.

Melissa Jefferson (10.8) and  Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry (10.89) finished second and third to take the other spots for the 100 meters. Richardson trains with Jefferson and Terry under the guidance of coach Dennis Mitchell.

The post Sha’Carri Richardson dominates in her 2024 Paris Olympics debut in 100m heat appeared first on On3 .