Sha'Carri Richardson to headline 100m event at Prefontaine Classic 2024

Reigning world champion Sha'Carri Richardson is set to race in a 100m event for the first time this season at the Prefontaine Classic 2024.

Richardson skipped the entirety of the 2024 indoor season and later commenced her outdoor season at the Xiamen Diamond League on April 20. The 24-year-old was stunned by Australia’s Torrie Lewis in the 200m race, beating the world champion by 0.03 seconds.

While Lewis clocked 22.96s, Sha'Carri Richardson finished 2nd with 22.99s. Given it was her season opener, the 24-year-old seemed content with her performance. Richardson next raced at the Shanghai Diamond League a week later. However, the result was more or less similar.

Richardson finished 3rd in the 200m event at Shanghai Diamond League after clocking 23.11s, slower than her season opener at Xiamen. Britain's Daryll Neita won the race while Anavia Battle secured the 2nd position. The 200m event isn't Richardson’s strongest suit, but in 100m, she is the 5th-fastest of all time and will soon make her outdoor season debut in the discipline.

Sha'Carri Richardson has been confirmed to participate in the Eugene Diamond League and will be headlining the women's 100m race at the Prefontaine Classic on May 25. The world champion will be competing against Julien Alfred and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith.

Richardson enjoys a dominant head-to-head record against Lou-Smith. She has won 6 times against the Ivorian out of the nine times they have faced each other. The 100m world champion is tied with Julien Alfred with a head-to-head record of 1-1.

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Sha'Carri Richardson will compete in both 100m and 200m at Paris Olympics 2024

Sha'Carri Richardson, Day 8 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Sha'Carri Richardson was poised to win at least one of the 100m or 200m events at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. However, the 24-year-old didn't feature in the Olympics after testing positive for marijuana.

However, this year, Richardson would be determined to get her hands on that Olympic gold medal. After her 200m outdoor debut at the Xiamen Diamond League, the 24-year-old spoke with Citius Magazine in a post-race interview and claimed that she intended to race both the 100m and 200m at the Paris Olympics 2024.

“Yeah, I definitely want to make the team in both (100m and 200m). I'm not one of these athletes that just do one event,” she said.

The world champion also claimed that her coach formulated ways for her to get better for the next event. While her performance at Shanghai a week later didn't witness an improvement in timings, she will be itching to start the 100m event on a strong note.