Sharon Firisua, the distance runner who earned Solomon Islands’ lone spot in the women’s 100-metre race at the Olympics in Paris, came in last in the race with a personal best time of 14.31 seconds.
The athlete looked like a sprinter preparing at the starting blocks. But when the gun went off, she was a marathoner trying to sprint. Firisua quickly navigated her way through the media after the race without even making eye contact with any reporters.
She has gone to the Olympics three times, and this is her first time as a sprinter. She competed in the marathon in Tokyo in 2021 and the 5,000 metres in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Actual sprinters not given the chance to compete
The Olympic authorities of the Solomon Islands gave Firisua a wild-card spot even though she did not initially qualify for the Paris Olympics. Usually, these are reserved for small countries to provide their athletes an opportunity to participate at the highest levels, even if they don’t match the qualifying requirements.
The officials stated that the 100-metre event was the only race with a spot. Apparently, Firisua did not have a record time in the division, but she did have one in every distance from the 1,500-metre to the marathon.
In the end, Firisua’s 100-metre mark was 3.37 seconds slower than the time that world champion Sha’Carri Richardson achieved in a preliminary heat.
There was debate about Firisua’s selection. The top sprinter of the nation, Jovita Arunia, was not awarded this slot because she did not qualify for the competition.
Arunia said, “We’re the (actual) sprinters. I don’t know what went wrong; it’s unbelievable… I will not compete anymore because of what they did.”
History repeated itself in the 100-metre women’s final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday (August 3). The 100-metre world champion Sha’carri Richardson of the United States was conclusively beaten by Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia in a virtual replay of the semi-final on Friday. The 24-year-old American idol was slower off the starting blocks on both occasions and could not catch up with the 23-year-old rising star from the Caribbean.
The 100-metre sprint is fast and unforgiving. The race is over in seconds with no time to recover after a slow start.
Rchardson’s slow reaction time
Richardson was weighed down by her reaction time. Her reaction time of 0.221 seconds was the slowest of the finalists and nearly twice Alfred’s 0.144.
Richardson, however, is an exceptional athlete who, even after slow starts, can accelerate to perform wonders. She ran a phenomenal 10.88 in the 100 metres at the US Olympic trials — despite stumbling out of the gate.
In the Paris 100-metre final, she ran even faster, clocking a time of 10.87 seconds. She recovered magnificently from her slow start to leave the rest of the field behind, but she could not overtake Alfred. Alfred, the world 60-metre indoor champion, started in a flash and led all the way, winning the race in 10.72 seconds.
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred is the new Women’s 100meters Olympics champion in 10.72s.
She becomes St Lucia’s first ever Olympic Champion.
USA’s Sha’carri Richardson comes in 2nd place in the time of 10.87s, while her compatriot Melissa Jefferson picked up the Bronze in 10.92s. pic.twitter.com/Kz1hfkGoPa
Alfred’s 10.72-second winning run was only a fraction of a second off Richardson’s 10.71 at the US Olympic trials, the fastest 100-metre time for a woman this year.
Melissa Jefferson of the United States won the bronze with a time of 10.92 seconds.
100-metre world record
Richardson became the 100-metre world champion in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023, winning the race in 10.65 seconds, coming closest to the world record of 10.49 seconds set by the late Florence Griffith Joyner of the United States in 1988.
Consequently, Richardson was the favourite to win the 100 metres in the Paris Olympics, too.
However, Alfred won the race in a replay of the semi-final, where also Richardson started slowly and Alfred finished .05 seconds ahead of her—a margin Alfred would triple in the final.
Apart from Richardson’s slow start, Alfred was also favoured by the running conditions
The race held in pouring rain on a sloppy track didn’t bother her, she said. Her coach, Edrick Floreal, who recruited her to the University of Texas in 2019, makes his runners practise in similar conditions.
Alfred is the first to win an Olympic medal from her island nation, Saint Lucia. “I feel honoured to be an ambassador for my country,” she said. “Not many people know about St. Lucia. Sometimes people ask me where it is.
However, she is trained in the United States just like her rival, Richardson.
Richardson missed the Tokyo Olympics having been suspended at the time for taking a banned substance, marijuana. Raised by her grandmother and aunt, she said she took the drug to cope with the death of her biological mother.
Though she missed the Olympic gold in Paris, the American media is already speculating about her chances of claiming the elusive medal at the 2028 Games, when she will be 28 years old.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican sprinter who suddenly dropped out of the 100 metres in Paris, is still competing in the Olympics at the age of 37.
The heats are on to find out the world’s fastest woman. And the preliminary findings show the current favourite American Sha’Carrie Richardson has not blown off the competition yet. Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the 100-metre silver medal winner in Tokyo three years ago, is still in the race.
The 100-metre in Tokyo ended in an all-Jamaican podium finish with Elaine Thompson-Herah winning gold and Shericka Jackson clinching bronze. However, Thompson-Herah is not competing in Paris because of an Achilles tendon injury while Jackson pulled out of the 100-metre to focus on the 200-metre, her pet event, after being injured in a race in Hungary in July.
Queen in a da deck!!!!! The incomparable Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲 pic.twitter.com/pUpp0HdLk3
Fraser-Pryce is considered one of the greatest sprinters of all time. She boasts five world titles and won the 100-metre Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
However, now 37 years old, can she hold off a young gun like Richardson?
The veteran, dubbed “Mommy Rocket”, isn’t done as yet.
This is her Olympic swan song, she says, and she aims to give of her best.
“It’s the final Olympic Games; let me repeat that,” Fraser-Pryce told journalists in Paris. “ I’m really looking forward to the experience, stepping on the track and always, once I get on the line, I’m giving 100 percent at all times and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 2, 2024
Sha’Carri Richardson
Richardson, 24, is the reigning world champion and the fastest woman this year, having posted a 10.71 in June.
She is taking part in her first Olympics, and looking forward to the competition.
“To be at the Olympics is a phenomenal feeling,” Richardson said. “I’m super excited and eager to compete on the Olympic stage.”
She couldn’t take part in Tokyo as she was suspended after testing positive for marijuana. Raised by her grandmother and an aunt, she said she took the drug to cope with the news that her biological mother had died.
Richardson and Fraser-Pryce both qualified for the semi-finals.
Richardson ran 10.94 to win the first heat on Friday (August 2).
However, Fraser-Pryce set a better time, clocking 10.92 to finish second behind Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Ivory Coast in the eighth and final heat.
Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Ivory Coast had the fastest time on Friday with 10.87, as she held off Fraser-Pryce down the home stretch in a thrilling final heat. She is hungry for a spot on the podium after fourth-place finishes in the last two Games.
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, Canada’s Audrey Leduc, Poland’s Ewa Swoboda, the United States’ Twanisha Terry, Britain’s Daryll Neita and Dina Asher-Smith, Jamaica’s Tia Clayton and Shashalee Forbes and Gambia’s Gina Mariam Bass Bittaye are among the others who advanced to the semi-finals.
Sha’Carri Richardson vs Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce: Sprinting legend vs young hotshot
The Paris Olympics will settle in 10 seconds who is the fastest woman in the world. Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has bagged medals at every Olympic Games since Beijing 2008. Now, at 37, having just recovered from an injury last year, the sprinting legend is up against a young hotshot. American Sha’Carri Richardson, 24, will be making her Olympic debut after breaking the Jamaican’s record.
Richardson’s Olympic campaign has already got off to a good start. She finished first in her heats in the opening round of the US Olympic track and field trials on Friday (June 21) with a time of 10.88 seconds.
Fraser-Pryce will be seen at the Jamaican Olympic trials, beginning on June 27. Down with a hamstring injury suffered in the 4x100m at the Budapest World Championships in August 2023, she ran her first race this year only on June 15. She won the 100m race in Kingston, Jamaica, in 11.15 seconds.
That’s slow compared with Richardson’s Olympic trials time, but slow starts are not unusual for Fraser-Pryce, points out Total Running Productions. She opened her 2019 season with an even slower time of 11.20 seconds but ran under 10.90 seconds seven times that year.
So, she can pick up the pace when needed.
How they stack up against each other
See how Richardson and Fraser-Pryce measure against each other in a YouTube video posted by Total Running Productions.
They first faced each other in the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in Palo Alto, California on June 30, 2019.
Richardson was faster than Fraser-Pryce. The American came fourth, the Jamaican seventh. Fraser wasn’t even “close to sprinting”, she was “practically jogging”, said the commentator in the YouTube video. The Jamaican could be much faster, as she proved when she won the 100m in 10.71 seconds in the World Championships finals in Doha, Qatar, later that year, on September 29, 2019.
Richardson, nevertheless, has a slight edge in showdowns against Fraser-Pryce. They have competed in seven races – and Richardson has won four, Fraser-Pryce three.
Richardson’s recent success
But Fraser-Pryce clocked faster times than Richardson in the 100m every year from 2016 till 2022 – and then the tide turned.
Richardson struck gold at the 2023 World Championships, winning the 100m in 10.65 seconds, setting a new record, beating Fraser-Pryce, and shaving .05 seconds off the record set by the Jamaican only the previous year.
The Paris Olympics could be the crowning moment for Richardson, says Total Running Productions.
The Jamaicans used to dominate the 100m, but the only Jamaican now in the top 10 is Bryanna Lyston at Louisiana State University who unexpectedly completed her season and dropped out of the Olympics.
Besides Richardson, there are other highly regarded young Americans such as Aleia Hobbs, McKenzie Long and Jacious Sears, currently the world’s fastest woman with the season’s best time of 10.77 seconds.
The favourite
Richardson seems to be the favourite, though. “After a tumultuous 2021 season and a rather disappointing 2022 season she has turned everything around, she has reached the top of the world, she broke the championship record of one of her Jamaican rivals and now she is just the favourite for this Olympic Games,” says the commentator in the YouTube video
Fraser-Pryce has said she will retire after the Paris Olympics. “My son needs me,” she said about her child, born in 2017.
She has already won medals at every Olympics since 2008. Her Olympic haul includes gold medals in the 100 m in Beijing (2008) and London (2012) as well as in the 4x100m in Tokyo (2021); silver medals in the 200 m in London and the 4x100m in London and Rio (2016); and a bronze in the 100m in Rio. Whoever wins in Paris, she will be remembered as one of the greatest sprinters ever.
Source: Total Running Productions
Sha’Carri Richardson bound for Paris with best-in-the-world finish
Even with her shoelace getting in the way, Sha’Carri Richardson ran like the wind, clinching a coveted spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She won the women’s 100-metre race at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on June 22. That win finally gave her the opportunity to make her Olympic debut, which was postponed by suspension during the Tokyo Olympics.
Her lightning-fast time of 10.71 seconds in Eugene on June 22 was the best in the world this year.
Richardson endured a difficult road to her Olympic goals after turning professional at the age of 19. The Covid-19 pandemic postponed her chance for glory until 2021. She stunned spectators by winning gold in the 100 metres at the US Olympic trials before the Tokyo Summer Games.
But her hopes were crushed by a positive marijuana test that led to her disqualification and Olympic ban.
She claims that she uses marijuana as a legal remedy in her home state of Oregon to help her cope with the death of her mother. But this setback didn’t stop her from growing, showing her resilience and willpower.
After the Olympics in Tokyo, she bounced back and entered a Diamond League competition later that year, but she lost in the 100 metres and came in last. “I’m here to stay, so feel free to talk all you want. I’m not finished,” Richardson was quoted as saying by essentially sports.
Sha’Carri Richardson’s path to atonement
Sha’Carri Richardson’s inspirational path from adversity to success demonstrates her tenacity and remarkable talent. She had a difficult start to 2022 and missed the US World Championships, but in 2023, she made a stunning comeback.
Black braids replaced her famous fiery wig, signifying a fresh start. She regained her form, winning the national 100-metre title and taking first place in the global championships in Budapest with an incredible time of 10.65 seconds.
Richardson appreciates the support she has received from her fans and feels obligated to uphold their faith. Because of her outstanding performance and unwavering mentality, she is now a strong candidate for the Olympics in Paris.
Shericka Jackson pulls out of 100m to ‘protect my body’, she will focus on 200m in Paris Olympics
Jamaican track star Shericka Jackson won’t be chasing a sprint double at the Paris Olympics. She dropped out of the 100 metres on Wednesday, saying, “The decision is just to protect my body.”
She will focus instead on the 200 metres in which she is the current world champion, having won the event in Eugene, USA, in 2022 and Budapest, Hungary, in 2023.
Jackson explained she dropped out of the 100 metres because of an injury she suffered at a race earlier this month.
‘I got hurt’ in Hungary race, she says
In Jackson’s final pre-Olympics race in Hungary, she pulled up with a calf cramp and limped off the track.
“I got hurt, and me and my coach felt like it was a good decision to only run one event,” she told reporters.
Earlier this week, Jackson’s coach, Stephen Francis, told the Jamaica Gleaner website that Jackson “appears OK to me”.
Jackson, however, described the decision to pull out as coming from both herself and Francis.
Shericka Jackson, ranked number two in the world for 100 metres, has pulled out of the 100m less than two days before the heats start.
Jackson said she would still run the 200 metres, where she is the only woman other than the world-record holder, the late Florence Griffith Joyner, to finish in under 21.5 seconds.
In Jackson’s absence, American world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who holds the world-leading time of 10.71 seconds this year, will start as the favourite for the 100-metre gold medal.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won the sprint double at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and again in Tokyo, will not defend her titles. She dropped out of the Jamaican trials last month with an Achilles injury.
Jackson had been considered a top contender in the 100 metres after winning bronze in the event at the Tokyo Games and finishing second at each of the past two world championships.
Olympic debutant Tia Clayton and two-time Olympic 100-metre champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will carry Jamaica’s best medal hopes in the event.
Pryce-Jones, 37, won gold in the 100 metres in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
Richardson favourite in 100m
However, Richardson is the current favourite. She won the event in her first world championships last summer.
The Jamaicans won all three medals in the 100 metres in Tokyo with Thompson -Herah winning gold, Pryce-Jones silver, and Jackson bronze. Only Pryce-Jones will be competing in the event in Paris.
Jamaica track and field team manager Ludlow Watts said Shashalee Forbes would replace Jackson in the 100 metres. Forbes was fourth in the 100 in 11.04 seconds at the Jamaican trials.
The preliminary rounds of the women’s 100 begin Friday. The final is set for Saturday.
