Luck seems to be playing a back-and-forth with Sha’Carri Richardson this season. Remember her performance in the season-opening 200m races in the Xiamen (2nd place) and Shanghai Diamond Leagues (3rd place)? It concerned her followers. But in her signature 100m race at the Prefontaine Classic, she came back to her full glory standing atop the podium. Her time of 10.83s also put her in second place in the world’s fastest time in 2024. But the Racer’s Grand Prix again saw her slipping off. What’s interesting is that she wasn’t even a part of the event!

Doesn’t matter if Richardson wasn’t there because Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia was. She put Sha’Carri Richardson’s absence to the best possible use. Alfred touched the finishing line in a blistering 10.78 seconds. That was enough for Alfred to dethrone Richardson. Alfred’s timing caused the American sprinter to slip to the third position from second in the fastest 100m time standings this season. But to whom did Sha’Carri Richardson lose the first place?

It happened at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville in April. Tennessee’s Jacious Sears took a staggering 10.77 seconds which put her in the lead. It was also the second-fastest time in NCAA history.

Interestingly, on that occasion, Sears challenged Sha’Carri Richardson’s dominance in another way as well. Her timing was .02 seconds away from the fastest 100m NCAA time that is under the belt of none other than the American. Understandably, a pack of newfound talents is giving the reigning 100m world champion a run for her money. Notably, at the Racers Grand Prix, Julien Alfred did not just take away Richardson’s second place. There is more to it.

Julien Alfred’s run, which is a St. Lucian national record, also left behind the record set by Shericka Jackson in 2023 (10.81 seconds). While Alfred was first, Krystal Sloley finished second in 10.99 seconds and Shashalee Forbes came in third with a time of 11.05 seconds. This marked a significant shift in the track and field landscape. This is all the more true if we look at Alfred’s performance last year when she actually faced Sha’Carri Richardson on the field.

In 2023, Julien Alfred took on Richardson at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Stunning everyone, she defeated the latter with a time of 10.89. Alfred had a better reaction time and got out of the blocks quicker than the 24-year-old on that occasion. With that, she had also ended Richardson’s undefeated run that year. Taking all these together, Alfred’s statement about herself does not look unnatural.

She had quipped that-“I have the potential to be one of the best” and nobody is denying it. Alfred is the NCAA Champion in the 100 and the 200m. She hails from a nation with a minuscule population of 180,000. “I know how hard I’ve worked to get to this level,”  – she happily proclaimed, and yes, she does beget the bragging rights.

A shift in tides at the track and field?

Last summer, Richardson clinched world championship gold in a blazing 10.65 seconds, ranking her as the fifth fastest of all time in Budapest. However, with Sears and Alfred’s performance, there seems to be a change in the power dynamics on the track. And thus, Sha’Carri Richardson is not the only one in a rather uneasy situation this season.

Elaine Thompson-Herah faced a setback at the Prefontaine Classic, finishing ninth with an 11.30s time in her season debut. Despite her personal best of 10.54s, this result was disappointing.

Another fierce rival of Richardson, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, just faced a brutal defeat in the Racer’s Grand Prix. She secured a gloomy fifth place, registering her first loss in 200m over a course of two years. Undoubtedly, these are not good news for the tracks with the Paris showdown nearing.

But these stars are not branded as stalwarts for no reason. Sha’Carri Richardson once said, “I would not be human to say that I wasn’t nervous, but as my coach say, used that nervousness as motivation.” That remains the motto not only for her but for all the iconic sprinters in this Olympic season. But the new-era talents are no less gritty.

This summer, Julien Alfred’s focus shifts to lifting her title at the Paris Games, with the women’s 100-meter first round commencing on August 2. Alfred has her sights set on a historic achievement for St. Lucia, aiming to secure the nation’s first Olympic medal at Paris 2024 later this year. With the Paris Games drawing near, the Richardson-Alfred rivalry stands poised to unfold through a series of highly anticipated competitions.