In her Olympic debut, Sha’Carri Richardson settled for the silver medal in the women’s 100 meters.
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred earned gold at 10.72 seconds. USA’s Melissa Jefferson received the bronze.
It’s the first time since 1996 two Americans medaled in the event.
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The 24-year-old was going to compete in Tokyo three years ago, but she tested positive for cannabis. She accepted a one-month suspension by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, making her ineligible for the 100 meters. She was also not selected for the 4×100 relay team, delaying her Olympic debut until this year.
Richardson won the event at the world championships in Budapest last year with a career-best 10.65, automatically putting herself in the gold medal discussion in Paris. But she fell 15 hundredths of a second short.
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The Olympics website says Richardson’s reaction time was 0.221 seconds, the slowest of the eight runners in the final, while Alfred’s was 0.144. Ultimately, simple math says it didn’t quite matter, but it does show a key reason why Richardson had to fight from behind early on.
It’s the first time since 2004 the gold was not won by a Jamaican.
The United States has been starving for a winner in the 100. Marion Jones is the last American woman to do it in 2000, but she was stripped of that medal due to taking performance-enhancing drugs. Gail Devers won gold in 1996 in a photo finish.
No American has won an Olympic 100-meter race since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
Richardson did not qualify for the 200 meters, but she will, in all likelihood, be running the 4×100-meter relay to try to redeem herself. The United States fell in that event in Tokyo to Jamaica after winning gold in 2016.
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