SI

Sha'Carri Richardson Wins First Olympic Medal, Secures Silver in 100m at Paris Games

The favored American sprinter finished with a time of 10.87.

Josh Wilson

Sha'Carri Richardson medaled in her first Olympic Games on Saturday.
Sha'Carri Richardson medaled in her first Olympic Games on Saturday. / Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

Sha'Carri Richardson would not be denied at these Paris Games. From her first preliminary heat to the 100m final, she was one of the fastest. Richardson put herself up in the event for the fastest women in the world, staking her claim as one of the fastest of them all.

While Richardson fell just short of fastest, she claimed silver, the newest medalist for U.S. sports on the wet track from rain throughout the evening at the Stade de France.

She finished with a time of 10.87. Coming in, her personal best was 10.65. Winning gold was Julien Alfred out of Saint Lucia (10.72), and Richardson's teammate, Melissa Jefferson won bronze (10.92).

In the semifinals, Richardson finished second, enough to snag one of the two guaranteed spots to be in the finals. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, one of her fiercest competitors, shockingly dropped out of the semifinal heat where she would have raced alongside Richardson.

It's a delayed welcome to the stage for the U.S. sprinter, and a redemption moment for Richardson who did not participate in the Tokyo Games due to a suspension. Richardson tested positive for THC—a compound found in marijuana, a banned substance by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency—and sat out to serve the suspension.

That story is now put to bed, and Richardson has a medal.

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Josh Wilson

JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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