Former LSU sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson continues to emerge victorious in race after race including the highly anticipated 100M race this past weekend.
The 8th edition of the 2023 Diamond League took place in Silesia, Poland, on Sunday and lived up to the hype as Richardson made a huge statement with a win over 100m world leader Shericka Jackson.
Richardson displayed strength and poise in this one as she trailed Jackson midway through but held strong late to pull ahead just before the line. Jackson is not the only woman Richardson will need to worry about at Worlds – Marie-Josee Ta Lou has also been running well this year, and seven-time global champ Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce can never be counted out. But Jackson is in the shape of her life right now.
In spite of what others were saying about her performances last year, Richardson has met the lastest races with speed and poise on every occasion. She ran 10.76 in Doha to earn her first career Diamond League victory, a 10.71 pb in the heats in Eugene en route to her first (official) US title, and prevailed against Jackson 10.76 to 10.78.
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The 100-meter champion, still fresh on the high of her winning race on July 7th, told her followers, as she flexed her braids and hit a little twerk, “She gone, but you’d be dumb to let me go.”
“Y’all have a blessed one,” Sha’Carri told her followers as she flashed a mega-watt smile.
The track and field showstopper has been in the zone during this season’s races. In her last race at the Nike Women’s 100-meter Final at the US Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, she “shed” her former self, opting to ditch her signature ginger bussdown before she ran.
When asked about her transformation, the 23-year-old athlete explained, “The reason why I decided to do the wig [removal is] the last time I was really here on the big stadium — I had my orange hair. And I wanted to show you guys that I’m still ‘that girl,’ but I’m better. “I’m still ‘that girl,’ but I’m stronger. I’m still ‘that girl,’ but I’m wiser. So I had to shed the old and present the new.”
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Results from women's 100m at the 2023 Silesia Diamond League meet
1. Sha'Carri Richardson (USA) 10.76
2. Shericka Jackson (JAM) 10.78
3. Ewa Swoboda (POL) 10.94
4. Twanisha Terry (USA) 10.99
5. Daryll Neita (GBR) 11.01
6. Anthonique Strachan (BAH) 11.05
7. Gina Lückenkemper (GER) 11.09
8. Zoe Hobbs (NZL) 11.15
9. Shashalee Forbes (JAM) 11.18
Richardson, who remains unbeaten in 2023, said afterward the race on the 16th, "It was an amazing race, I am really having fun. The 10.76...I love the time. I put a great race together. This was a great competition, it was amazing. I executed correctly."
"I love the atmosphere here. I wish we could replicate this in the U.S.. All the energy, all the love from the audience. I was satisfied with my race altogether."
Using her voice to Speak for Others
Richardson believes track-and-field athletes don’t receive the same treatment as her peers in other disciplines.
“Track & Field is not like other sports, especially in America,” she tweeted. “The NBA, NFL have organizations to HELP their athletes, not exploit them. Y’all have no idea how many track athletes that don’t even have a base salary, there are some athletes that literally sign contracts for CLOTHES!”
The 23-year-old has been using her public platform to advocate for fair pay in the sport by sharing other athletes’ experiences and organizing meetings for her community.
With Jackson completing the sprint double - including beating Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce over 200m - at the Jamaican trials, and Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah out of form, Richardson has marked herself out as a genuine world title contender in Budapest next month in what could be a preview of the World Championship final on August 21.
