SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON won best female athlete in America 🇺🇸
SAINT-DENIS, France – A rainy night only made the three medals earned by Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson, and Jasmine Moore glisten that much brighter beneath the bright lights of Paris’ Stade de France.
Richardson’s 10.87-second race was bested only by Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, who captured the Caribbean country’s first Olympic medal in its history. Jefferson finished just behind Richardson with a time of 10.92 seconds and earned the bronze medal.
“I’m a baby in this sport,” Jefferson said after claiming her medal. “I have a lot of learning and growth to do. And so I feel like those moments where I’m not in first place or not on the podium, I can take those moments and learn from them, and have moments like this to look back on.”
The medal-winning sprints are the first for both Richardson and Jefferson, who are making their Olympic debuts at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Richardson qualified for the Tokyo 2020 team but was unable to attend due to a one-month suspension brought about by a positive marijuana test.
Richardson’s journey to Saturday’s silver medal began all the way back in Oregon’s 2021 Prefontaine Classic. She took last place in the women’s 100m race in that meet, marking the rock-bottom of a mountainous comeback. Richardson declared she’d return in top form, and wrote off anyone that decided to doubt her.
