The reigning 100m and 4x100m world champion will be hoping to book her ticket to Paris at the trials in Texas on Friday. It will be three years since she was ruled out of Tokyo 2021 following a positive marijuana test. Her comeback came in 2023, when she became world champion again in the 100 metres. It would be a surprise if she failed to qualify.
Sha’Carri Richardson will be the main attraction on Friday. The reigning 100m and 4x100m world champion and 200m bronze medallist will begin her quest for Olympic redemption. A ticket to the Paris Games would give her that. This redemption would come three years after a positive marijuana test excluded her from the US team for Tokyo.
She is running in her home state of Texas at the US Olympic Athletics Trials at the star-studded Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. She will be competing in the 100-metre heats in the hope that it all culminates in an Olympic gold medal at the Stade de France on August 3. She is the favourite, but her story is so special that it makes her even more of a focus.
Richardson said she used the drug to cope with the pressure of qualifying for the Olympics and the recent death of her biological mother. Organisations advocating the liberalisation of cannabis policy, including members of Congress, have criticised her suspension.
Even US President Joe Biden suggested that drug testing rules for athletes could be changed. But USADA argued that it had to enforce the World Anti-Doping Code. It was reluctant to change the rules.
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Richardson attempted a comeback in 2022, but was eliminated at the US trials for the 2022 World Championships. Her talent remained undiminished, however, and in 2023 she won the 100 metres at the World Championships in Budapest. She beat Jamaican rivals Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in a world record time of 10.65 seconds.
Her return to the elite ranks has been attributed to learning to manage her emotions. “I feel like the person I am now, I’ve always been that person. it’s just been locked inside me,” she said last season. She has competed sparingly, with just one 100m race. She won the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in May, clocking 10.83 seconds.
No one is expecting Richardson to fail to qualify for Paris in Saturday’s 100m final. However, anything can happen. Also on Saturday, all eyes will be on Noah Lyles. He will be looking to make a similar impact in the men’s 100 metres.
Lyles, who won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at last year’s World Championships, starts with the 100m heats on Saturday. The semi-finals and final take place on Sunday.
While Richardson is seeking Olympic redemption for her positive test, Lyles is looking for it after failing to qualify for the 100m final in Tokyo. In the 200m, he was the favourite but had to settle for third. An untimely bout of depression left him struggling after Tokyo 2020. Lyles told NBC earlier this month,”The Noah before Tokyo was depressed. This Noah is not, and that’s a dangerous Noah.”