Sha'Carri Richardson wins 100 final to make U.S. Olympic team - ESPN

EUGENE, Ore. — Two steps before she reached the finish line, Sha'Carri Richardson started pounding her chest.

She knew she had it won. Anyone who doesn't see her as the sprinter to beat at the Paris Olympics should probably think again.

Richardson notched the latest stop on her «I'm Not Back, I'm Better» tour with a 10.71-second sprint in the 100 meters at U.S. track trials on Saturday that makes her the fastest woman in the world in 2024 and officially earned her a trip to France, where the women start racing Aug. 2.

Richardson, who for the third time in the meet did not start well and had to make up ground, also finished well in the clear for the third straight race.

She was .09 seconds ahead of training partner Melissa Jefferson, the 2022 U.S. champion. Another sprinter in coach Dennis Mitchell's camp, Twanisha Terry, finished third and also earned a spot on the women's 100-meter team.

«I feel honored,» Richardson said. «I feel every chapter I've been through in my life prepared me for this moment.»

It has been quite a ride for the 24-year-old Texan. Three years ago, she won this race too (in 10.86 seconds), only to see the victory stripped because of a positive marijuana test that laid bare everything from her own experiences with depression to an anti-doping rulebook that hadn't changed with the times.

Richardson has portrayed herself as a new, better and more in-tune person than the one who lit up this same Hayward Field back in 2021 while looking like this sport's breakout star.

But she stayed home for the Tokyo Olympics and started working on herself both on and off the track. It took nearly two years, but she won the national championship in 2023 and declared, «I'm not back, I'm better,» then backed that up a