Sha’Carri Richardson is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100m and 200m evens. She is a two-time World champion, three-time Diamond League meeting winner, and a Pan American U20 champion. Sha’Carri Richardson ran a new personal best of 10.72 sec in 100m, becoming the sixth-fastest woman of all time and the fourth-fastest American woman in history. She is still missing the Olympics honor, but definitely is one of the favorites for the Olympics gold at the Paris 2024 Games.
Sha’Carri Richardson was born on March 25, 2000, in Dallas, Texas, United States. She started in athletics as a kid and showed great talent and results. Sha’Carri Richardson made her international debut at the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships, where she won a gold medal in the 4x100m relay. She rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, running 10.75 sec to break the 100m collegiate record at the NCAA Division I Championships.
Sha’Carri Richardson started her competitive career already in 2015, debuting at the Burleson AAU U17 JO District Southwest 100m event. Although not achieving satisfactory results, in 2016, she had a fantastic season, winning the 100m title at the AAU Junior Olympics, the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States. She repeated the success at the AAU Junior Olympics also in 2017. Meanwhile, she won the 100m and 200m gold medals at the Commerce UIL Region II-4A Championship, as well as the 100m and 200m silver at the Austin UIL State Championships. In 2017, Sha’Carri Richardson triumphed with 100m gold and 4x100m silver at the prestigious Austin Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, as well as 4x100m gold at the Trujillo Pan American U20 Championship.
In 2018, she smashed the competition in 100m and 200m at the Austin UIL Championship and Commerce Region 2 4A Meet, where triumphed also in the 4x100m relay.
In 2019, Sha’Carri Richardson started the indoor season by winning the 60m gold at the UAB Vulcan Invitational and the silver at the Red Raider Invite, Razorback Invitational, and Tyson Invitational, before competing at the Birmingham NCAA Div. I Indoor Championships, where finished only 7th. During the outdoor season, she won the 100m gold at the Austin NCAA Div. I Outdoor Championships with 10.75 sec to break the 100m collegiate record. At the same championships, she won also the 200m and 4x100m relay silver. Sha’Carri Richardson competed at the Prefontaine Classic but missed the medal for a while finishing 4th. At the Des Moines USA Championships, she finished 8th in 100m and failed to overcome the heats in 200m.
After the strong 2019 season, Sha’Carri Richardson’s impetus was cooled down by the short 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. She won the 60m gold at the AP Ranch High Performance Invite, 100m and 200m gold medals at the Star Athletics Sprint Showcase, as well as the 100m gold and 200m bronze at the Showdown in Otown.
In 2021, Sha’Carri Richardson qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after winning the women’s 100m dash at the Eugene US Olympic Trials, but later was disqualified and thus she missed the Summer Olympics. Meanwhile, she won the 100m gold at the Walnut USATF Golden Games and the 100m silver at the Meeting Citta di Padova, the 200m gold at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike and Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, as well as the 4x100m and 4x200m relays gold medals at the USATF Sprint Summit. During the season she debuted at the Diamond League, winning the 100m silver at the Muller Grand Prix Gateshead.
In 2022, Sha’Carri Richardson already proved to be one of the top sprinters in the United States. She won the 100m gold at the Duval County Challenge, and the 100m silver at the Eugene Diamond League’s Prefontaine Classic, before winning the 100m silver and 200m gold at the New York Grand Prix, as well as the 100m gold at the Luzern Spitzen Leichtathletik. At the 4x100m relay event, she won the gold at the Texas Relays.
Sha’Carri Richardson made a fantastic 2023 season, winning the 100m gold medals at the Doha, Chorzow, and Zurich Diamond League meetings. In the Summer, she won the world titles at the Budapest World Athletics Championships in 100m and 4x100m, as well as the bronze in 200m. She won the 100m national title, triumphing at the Eugene USA Championships, as well as the 200m silver. Sha’Carri Richardson won the 200m gold at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi and the 200m silver at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix.