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
— Ayobami George (@Georgeayobhami1) August 3, 2024
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.
🇺🇸 SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON
100M OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST.
📸 @justin_britton pic.twitter.com/jRiAv2k02R
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) August 4, 2024
Running conditions
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.