EUENGE, Ore. — Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100-meter final Saturday night at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, qualifying for the Paris Olympics next month. She ran a season-best 10.71 seconds, the fastest time in the world this season.
It’s just the latest step in Richardson’s road to redemption.
Richardson never made it to Tokyo for the last Olympics despite winning the 100 at the last Trials, too. After enchanting the country with her boundless charisma she tested positive for marijuana, a banned substance, and wasn’t allowed to run in Japan.
Richardson, who was raised by her grandmother, later shared that she used marijuana as a coping mechanism after learning her biological mother had died.
But with Saturday's dominant win in the 100, she’ll get another chance to win an Olympic medal. As soon as Richardson crossed the finish line she was emotional, wiping away tears and celebrating with the other top finishers. Melissa Jefferson (second, 10.80) and Twanisha Terry (10.89, third), two of Richardson's training mates, are also headed to Paris.
"We didn’t put the world on notice, the world already knew," Richardson said.
"We knew this moment could be possible if we put our minds, body and spirit into it … we knew it was possible, and we got the job done."
Richardson is also entered in the 200, which will be run Thursday. She is expected to be placed on the 4x100 relay team as well. — Lindsay Schnell
Follow along with USA TODAY Sports for updates and results from all of Saturday's action at Hayward Field:
Women’s triple jump
Men’s shot put
Men’s Decathlon
Women’s 100 meters
World record-holder Ryan Crouser won the men's shot put with a throw of 74 feet, 11¼ inches. Crouser has a chance to be the first man to win three Olympic gold medals in shot put. Joe Kovacs threw 73-7¼ to finish second and Payton Otterdahl came in third, throwing 73-0½. The three will advance to the Paris Olympics.
Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley won the second heat of the men’s 100. Kerley posted a 10.03 to advance to Sunday’s semifinal.
Christian Coleman stormed out of the blocks, took an early lead and coasted the rest of the way to easily win the fourth heat with a 9.99.
Kerley, Coleman and Noah Lyles are the three favorite in the 100.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Ryan Crouser headlines the competition in Saturday’s men's shot put final. Crouser’s personal-best of 77 feet, 3¾ inches is the current world record. He owns the top four shot put marks ever.
With Snoop Dogg in the stands watching with Noah Lyles' mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, Lyles cruised to victory in the preliminary round of the 100 meters. Lyles ran a 9.92 to win the opening round. He was the only sprinter to run sub-10 seconds in the first heat. Kenny Bednarek ran a 10.00 to finish second.
The iconic rapper was seen at historic Hayward Field, and was shown on the NBC broadcast sitting next to Noah Lyles' mom prior to the star sprinter's first race at the trials.
Snoop Dogg's most recent crossover into the sports world just came on Thursday night, when he performed at Edmonton's Rogers Place the day before the Oilers' Game 6 win in the Stanley Cup Final. Wearing a Georges Laraque jersey as he performed, Snoop told the crowd there would be a Game 7 (the Oilers won 5-1 Friday night).
Sha’Carri Richardson is on her way to the 100-meter final at the U.S. Olympic track and field championships.
Richardson won her semifinals heat Saturday with a time of 10.86 seconds. Tamari Davis finished second with a 10.99. Richardson and Davis qualified for the final round as a result of taking the top two spots in their heat.
Richardson had another subpar start, but quickly closed the gap between 50 and 75 meters to pull ahead of the other sprinters.
Richardson ran a 10.88 and finished first in Friday’s preliminary round. She had a misstep out of the blocks and ran with a shoe untied but still managed to come away with the best time in the opening round.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Richardson showed once again why she is the favorite to win the 100.
Richardson will now regroup and get ready to run the 100 again in less than two hours with a trip to Paris on the line.
The women’s 100-meter final is scheduled for 10:50 p.m. ET. — Tyler Dragon
NCAA 100- and 200-meter champion McKenzie Long was unable to qualify for the final in the women’s 100. Long placed fourth in her semifinals heat, running an 11.15.
Tamara Clark ran an 11.09 to win. Candace Hill was right behind Clark, running an 11.10 to finish second. Clark and Hill automatically qualify for the 100 final.
Long was on USA TODAY Sports' list of college stars to watch. She is also scheduled to run the 200 on Thursday. — Tyler Dragon
Here is the TV broadcast schedule, according to NBC:
Saturday, June 22
Finals — NBC or Peacock, 9-11 p.m., ET
All events will be streamed on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com and the NBC and NBC Sports apps.
Richardson, who is competing for a spot on her first Olympic team, ran a 10.88 in the first round of the women's 100 meters Friday, the fastest qualifying time in the field. She advanced to Saturday's semifinals, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
Richardson got off to a rough start out of the blocks but recovered nicely to win her heat. She finished with one shoe untied.
"Definitely didn’t have the start that I’ve been training to have in this moment. But still, not panicking, staying patient and knowing that no matter what’s going on, to continue to run my race," Richardson said on NBC after her win.
The women’s 100 final is Saturday at 10:50 p.m. ET.
American sprinting star Noah Lyles opens his 100-meter dash competition Saturday with the first round, scheduled to begin at 9:20 p.m. ET. Lyles is in the first heat and is assigned lane six.
The top five in each heat, plus the next two fastest times, advance to the semifinals, which begin Sunday at 8:48 p.m. ET.
Ryan Crouser, a two-time Olympic champion, has been battling injuries that delayed his start to the season. On Friday, he did enough to advance to Saturday's final, coming in with a throw of 70 feet, 4¼ inches on his first and only attempt of the day. −Jarrad Denney
With only the men's 10,000-meter final held on Friday night, right now it's a short list of athletes who have qualified in track and field for Paris.
Men's 10,000
1. Grant Fisher, 27:49.472. Woody Kincaid, 27:50.743. Nicolas Young, 27:52.40
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