Sha-Carri Richardson, Olympics 2024 Update
The fastest woman in the world this year, 25-year-old Sha'Carri Richardson, feels like she's come into her own, both on and off the track.
Ahead of Tokyo 2020, in 2021, the Texan native was in top form. However, her chance at an Olympic athletics title was stopped short after her qualifying result at the US trials was ditched due to a positive test for cannabis.
As a result Richardson was handed a one-month suspension "for an anti-doping rule violation" a ban which unfortunately covered the time of the Tokyo Games.
Carl Lewis the Nine-time Olympic gold medallist who is now a coach based in Texas has seen the changes in Richardson himself, commenting the following at the UK Athletics Championships and Olympic Trials in June.
"Last year she looked to me like she'd settled in, A little bit older, more mature, and understands herself better, and I think that's why she's winning. I think she's more focused and I don't think there's anyone faster than her. If she runs her race, no one is going to beat her right now."
Two Jamaican sprinters are among those who will be a threat to Richardson. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will compete at this, her fifth and final Olympics in the 100m, alongside Shericka Jackson, who is aiming for her first solo Olympic gold in the 100m and 200m.
For those watching, the 100-meter race is over in a flash. But for world record-holder Sha’Carri Richardson and those other potentials chasing Olympic glory, the journey to the race is a much longer one.
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