EUGENE, Oregon — Sha’Carri Richardson’s Tokyo Olympic summer didn’t unfold as she expected.
Neither did her return to the track.
The 2018 Carter graduate finished last in the women’s 100-meter dash at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday afternoon. Richardson crossed the line in 11.14 seconds, about half a second slower than her season-best (10.72 seconds), and 0.6 seconds behind winner Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica.
Thompson-Herah (10.54 seconds), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.73) and Shericka Jackson (10.83 seconds) rounded out the all-Jamaica podium Saturday, just as they did July 31 in the Olympic final.
Texas graduate Teahna Daniels (10.9) finished fourth.
Richardson posted the slowest reaction time out of the blocks and never appeared to find her highest speed down the straightaway. She clapped when the stadium announcer highlighted Thompson-Herah’s time as the world’s best this season, but she didn’t break stride as she walked directly into the tunnel.
Richardson’s return to racing after her drug-related suspension marked the latest twist in a summer of upheaval for the Dallas native.
At the Olympic trials in mid-June, she dominated the 100-meter races and emerged as the U.S. team’s next great sprinting star. But she also tested positive for marijuana, which she said she ingested to cope with the “emotional panic” of learning her biological mother died just before the biggest race of her life.
About two weeks later, news of her suspension for a failed drug test — and disqualification from the Olympic team — became public and Richardson garnered national attention, support and criticism.
That meant she watched from Florida, where she trains year-round, as Thompson-Herah set a new Olympic record to win gold and Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson rounded out an all-Jamaica women’s 100-meter podium in Tokyo.
The cool weather conditions Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, and the roar from the Hayward Field crowd didn’t reflect the hot, humid, fan-free setting from Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.
But Richardson’s company in her return offered a pseudo-second chance at Olympic-level competition.
Sha'carri Richardson after the race: “This is one race. I’m not done. Count me out if you want to ... Talk all the shit you want to! You know what I can do!" pic.twitter.com/xlmJzpDd2D
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 21, 2021
Sha'Carri Richardson’s not going anywhere pic.twitter.com/0PzMgM1ZfR
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 21, 2021
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Source: The Dallas Morning News
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