A month-long suspension crushed Sha’Carri Richardson‘s Olympic dreams before the 2020 Tokyo Games, leaving fans and the world stunned. But as the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” And so, the sprinter vowed not just to return, but to rise stronger than ever. “I’m not back, I’m better,” she proclaimed—a promise that resonated with every athlete who has ever faced defeat.

This month, Richardson made her long-awaited debut on the grand stage of the French capital. The world held its breath as she stepped onto the iconic purple tracks of the Stade de France, her eyes fixed on the gold. The 100m world champion, with her characteristic confidence, was a fan favorite to reclaim her crown. Yet, there was a twist—a dark horse ready to gallop past the headlines and into the hearts of fans.

Enter Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred—a sprinter who, with quiet determination and raw talent, had already toppled Richardson once in 2023. Many believed it was a fluke, a rare slip in Richardson’s otherwise meteoric career. But as the starting gun fired in the Olympic final, Richardson found herself trailing. Alfred crossed the finish line first, and Richardson had to settle for silver. Now, these two powerhouses are set to rekindle the rivalry. According to Olympics.com, they will face each other again at the Zurich Diamond League on September 5.

Sha’Carri Richardson had a promising start to her Olympic stint when she dominated the 100m track at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She went on to clinch an effortless win in 10.71 seconds. Trailing behind her were her training partners, Melissa Jefferson and TeeTee Terry, who crossed the finish line in 10.80 seconds and 10.89 seconds.

On the other hand, leading up to the Paris Olympics, Julien Alfred turned heads at the Monaco Diamond League by clinching a 100m gold with 10.85 seconds, though Sha’Carri was absent there. However, 2023 was very much marked by their rivalry on the tracks. Let us take a look.

The sprinters first locked horns at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in 2023. Richardson, fresh off her victory in the Poland Diamond League against Jamaican powerhouse Shericka Jackson, hoped to continue that streak in Hungary too. Much to her dismay, Alfred blazed right past her to the finish line, claiming an effortless win in 10.89 seconds. The American trotted past after in 10.97 seconds.

But the 24-year-old reclaimed her crown at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest with a personal best time of 10.65s. Their next encounter was in the 100m finals on August 3. But the Saint Lucian erupted victorious yet again by swiftly making her way through the rain-soaked tracks in 10.72 seconds.

Sha’Carri Richardson and her training partner, Melissa Jefferson, trailed behind in 10.87 seconds and 10.92 seconds. The gap between Alfred and the 24-year-old was  0.15 seconds, the biggest margin women’s 100m dash has seen since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Even though the sprinter stated that she was better – maybe she just wasn’t good enough against the 23-year-old. The Saint Lucian couldn’t hold her tears back and took a celebratory lap around the stadium.

But the American declined to do so. While Alfred and Jefferson spoke to the reporters at the mixed zone post their race, her compatriot hurried past reporters with a simple “Thank you, thank you, have a blessed evening.” On August 25, she posted a boomerang from the tracks captioned, “Last day out.” While many fans believed they wouldn’t see her again this season, the sprinter seems to look forward to reclaiming her winning streak on the track at Zurich. But there is an issue that keeps coming back to her, often becoming the decisive factor in her races.

It is the beginning that takes away all from Sha’Carri Richardson

While Sha’Carri has always pulled herself ahead of the competition, her slow start has always been a problem. On a similar line, the issue held her back during the 100m finals at Stade de France as well. Sha’Carri’s start was the slowest in the Olympic finals. Her reaction time was 0.221 seconds compared to Alfred’s 0.144. By the time Sha’Carri regained her composure, Alfred was already way ahead of her. In fact, because of the slow start, Sha’Carri trailed behind the entire pack for at least half of the race.

She crossed the first 10m in 2.03s which kept her in 7th position. That continues till 40m into the race which she crossed 5.14s. After the initial hiccup, she started to recover, speeding up in the next 10m (the 50m mark), which she covered in .93s, ahead of the pack, and was similar to what Alfred took to cover that distance. This brought her back to the 4th position which she tied with country mate Melissa Jefferson. She then took .94s to run the next 10m (60m mark), lifting herself to the 2nd.

Sha’Carri continued with this lead, till the end to land with the silver. On the other hand, Alfred was untouchable from the very beginning. After the fastest start, she ran the first 10m in a blistering 1.96s which set the tone for the entire race. by 50m, which she ran in 5.96s, she had virtually taken away the gold, leaving the competition only to decide the silver and bronze medalists. Notably, she was the only sprinter in the pack to touch the halfway mark in sub-5 time. In fact, her top speed was also no match for the other sprinters.

Alfred maintained an average speed of 23.15mph with the top speed reaching 25.50mph against the 25.18mph of Sha’Carri whose average speed was 22.84mph. Rest were even lesser. “Sha’Carri’s start is very, very inconsistent. It’s a real struggle, real problem for her,” Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medal sprinter, had said in an interview in July. Looking at Sha’Carri’s start, it seems like she is also reeling under the historic American problem with the start in the races, something that Noah Lyles is also a victim of.

In the Olympic final, Noah Lyles’ reaction time was the slowest (.178s) which was significantly slower than Fred Kerley’s .108, the fastest of the pack. The close finish in the final might be a result of his slow start. In fact, Noah was in last place with 40 metres of the race gone. But Noah’s weapon is his top speed in the closing meters, which reached a staggering 27.84 mph. That eventually made him snatch the gold. The  Interesting fact is that this speed is higher than Usain Bolt’s 27.8 mph. Imagine what could have happened with an improved start!

As Johnson pointed out, “The similarity with both Sha’Carri and Noah is that they’re some of the fastest turnover once they get up into their run. Their max velocity is superior to most people in the race.” We can only hope that the two most prominent faces of American sprinting overcome this problem, making the way for surpassing everyone.

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