Sha’Carri Richardson qualifies for Paris Olympics with 100-meter triumph

(NEW YORK) — Sha’Carri Richardson is officially heading to Paris to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time.

The 24-year-old track and field sprinter qualified for the event on Saturday night with a 10.71-second 100-meter run.

Richardson’s feat, which she clocked at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, registered as the fastest women’s time in the competition by any woman this year, according to World Athletics.

Immediately following Richardson’s speedy feat, the runner dropped to her knees before embracing and celebrating alongside Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, who both qualified for the Paris Olympics alongside Richardson with times of 10.80 and 10.89 seconds, respectively.

Richardson will start her Olympic journey on Aug. 2 in Paris, when the women’s 100-meter run preliminary round kicks off.

In August last year, Richardson notched a 10.65-second 100-meter time in Budapest, Hungary, at the World Athletics Championships.

In 2021, Richardson won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials, making her the fastest woman in America and positioning her to compete for gold in the Tokyo Olympics. However, her chances of participating in the 100 meters at the Olympics were erased after it was announced she had tested positive for THC, a chemical found in marijuana.

Richardson told reporters at the time that she used marijuana during the Olympic trials in Oregon, which has legalized the substance for recreational use, as a way to cope with the loss of her birth mother. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended her for 30 days, citing the World Anti-Doping Agency’s ban on cannabis.