SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Sha’Carri Richardson has had to overcome many obstacles on her road to Olympic glory. Some of them self-imposed. Some not.
Considering everything the American sprinter has been through over the past three years, it felt pretty normal for her to cautiously take the baton from teammate Gabby Thomas on Friday as the U.S. placed third in the women’s 4×100-meter relay final.
Richardson makes his money by beating others in a race from here to there. And with a thrilling sprint down the finishing straight at the Stade de France, the gold that had seemed out of reach for so long was finally within reach.
Richardson chased down Germany’s Rebekka Haase and Britain’s Daryll Neita during an electrifying final leg to secure the first Olympic gold of her career. And she did it with the style and swagger that have become her trademark, whether she won or lost.
40 meters from the finish line, she caught up with Haase and Neita. 20 meters from the finish line, Richardson turned to the right and looked at her competitors, who were now all a full step behind her. At the finish line, she leaned forward and ran with long strides.
The 24-year-old from Dallas was so fast that it took a moment for the scoreboard to keep up.
The early results on the giant video board suggested that Great Britain had crossed the finish line first. Richardson, Thomas, Twanisha Terry and Melissa Jefferson knew better. Once the error was corrected – with a one next to the USA’s time of 41.78 – Richardson’s long journey to the top of the podium was finally over.
“It was a phenomenal feeling for all of us,” Richardson said.
Especially for the charismatic star who arrived in Paris with so much pressure.
When the Americans were about to ring the victory bell in a corner of the stadium, Richardson was the last to ring it four times, letting out a long-awaited cry of joy.
A week after finishing in a surprise second place behind Julien Alfred of St. Lucia in the final of the women’s 100 meters, Richardson secured a golden finish to her Games, a day after a shaky exchange between Terry and Thomas in qualifying nearly cost the United States a chance at her team’s third gold medal in the last four Olympics.
“We just looked at what we did yesterday, talked to each other and then made the necessary corrections,” Terry said. “But we still had trust and confidence in each other. And that’s what we expressed here today.”
Thomas ran the third leg to claim her second gold medal of the Games, along with the 200m. Things got a lot more difficult during a brief rain shower that came just before the start and made the purple track briefly slippery. This is one reason why Thomas’s exchange with Richardson was more cautious than composed.
Not that it made any difference in the end.
“Passing the baton to Sha’Carri is something very special and unique,” said Thomas. “She is so fast and we know we are in good hands once she has the baton in her hands.”
Yes, they were.
