Sha’Carri Richardson’s slow start cost her gold in the 100-meter final, so much so that medaling at all was an achievement after she took .221 seconds to get out of the blocks.
That reaction time was the slowest of all eight runners and almost a full tenth behind eventual winner Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, requiring Richardson to spend the duration of the race coming back.
She eventually did pass six other sprinters, but not Alfred, who romped to the island nation’s first medal by .15 seconds — the biggest margin in the event since 2008.
Despite coming in as the favorite, Richardson’s starts have been a red flag for a while, including at Olympic Trials, where she failed to qualify in the 200-meter race.She also got a poor start in the 100-meter semifinal in Paris, losing to Alfred in a preview of things to come.
Richardson skipped interviews at the mixed zone in Paris after winning silver, meaning that she couldn’t address the disappointing result or what went wrong.
Sha’Carri Richardson reacts after taking silver in the 100-meter final at the Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.AP
The silver medal, though, marked a major disappointment for the United States, as Richardson was favored to win gold and complete a redemption tale that started with her disqualification from the Tokyo Games over a positive result for THC three years ago.
The native of Dallas showed up in Paris looking to build on a gold medal from 2023 World Championships, but ultimately fell short.
