Sha’Carri Richardson Is Ready for Her Olympic Moment in Paris
Sha’Carri Richardson is only interested in moving in one direction: forward. Her preference is to do so very, very quickly.
She doesn’t need to be reminded — again — of how her arrival at the 2024 Olympics represents a belated debut on the sports world’s biggest stage. She’s not all that interested in talking through why one race was fast or another slow.
She would like her head to remain focused exactly where her feet were on Friday: on the purple track of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. On moving toward a singular goal, on winning an Olympic gold medal.
That is exactly what many fans in the stadium have come to witness, too.
“We came, really, to watch Sha’Carri,” said Jenifer Nalbandian, who traveled from California alongside her husband, brother and sister-in-law.
“It’s historic,” she said after watching Richardson cruise through the heats of the 100 meters on Friday. “Watching someone that’s at the top of their game, finally being able to come out to this Olympic Games and show the world what she can do. It was pretty epic to be in the stadium.”
Nalbandian has one expectation for Richardson.
“Gold,” she laughed. “Gold every day, all day. We don’t like silver.”
When is Sha’Carri Richardson running, and how can I watch?
Richardson will race in the 100-meter semifinals on Saturday at 7:50 p.m. local time (1:50 p.m. Eastern). The final is Saturday at 9:20 p.m. in Paris (3:20 p.m. Eastern).
In the United States, NBC is the main broadcaster, but some events will also be shown on CNBC and USA Network. Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, and NBCOlympics.com also are streaming events.
Can she win gold?
Richardson’s journey to Saturday night’s final began in earnest when she entered the stadium, which has a capacity of about 80,000, on Friday morning. The face of American sprinting, she had a lightness about her, even as the expectations for her to win have become far heavier.
Richardson, 24, arrived at these Olympics as the 100-meter world champion, the title she claimed in August 2023 with a time of 10.65 seconds.
She enters the Paris Games with the world’s fastest time this year, 10.71 seconds, set at the U.S. trials this summer. But that time most likely could have been even faster: Richardson started pounding her chest in celebration before she crossed the line. After the crushing disappointment of a positive test for marijuana at the trials in 2021, that celebration was an acknowledgment, she said, that “hard work pays off.”
Her first Olympic race couldn’t have gone much better. She cruised to an easy win in her heat in 10.94 seconds, pumping the brakes before she hit the finish line and showing little sign of exertion. She looked up at the Stade de France’s giant video screen and smiled. One race down, two to go.
Who are her main competitors?
The answer is usually, and unequivocally, the Jamaicans: Their three best runners swept the 100-meter podium at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and then did it again at the world championships in 2022.
Saturday’s race will prove much different. Elaine Thompson-Herah, the defending champion, who holds an Olympic record of 10.61 seconds, is injured and not racing at the Games. Shericka Jackson, who finished in second behind Richardson at the 2023 world championships, withdrew from the 100 to focus on the 200.
That means Richardson will be keeping a close eye on their Jamaican teammate, the 37-year-old Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who enters having won a medal in sprinting events at four consecutive Olympics but plans to retire after this season. Fraser-Price had the second-fastest time of the heats on Friday morning, behind Marie-Josée Ta Lou Smith of Ivory Coast.
She’ll also need to contend with Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, Daryll Neita of Britain, Melissa Jefferson of the United States and Audrey Leduc of Canada.
Is Richardson running in any other events?
Richardson is expected to run again as part of the United States 4×100 relay team next Thursday and Friday. She did not qualify for the 200 after finishing fourth in the event at the U.S. trials in June.
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