USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson clinched gold in the women’s 100m final in a new competition record time of 10.65 seconds at the World Athletic Championships in Budapest on Monday.

Richardson beat out Jamaican sprinting legends, Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce — who took silver and bronze respectively — to first spot in a remarkable sprint finish. Jackson and Fraser-Pryce have 26 world championship medals between them — 13 of them gold

While the highly-anticipated race was run in a straight line across the pristine track in Hungary, the journey 23-year-old Richardson took to reach that point was far from it.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Formidable Team USA aim at sprint glory at World Athletics Championships in Hungary

In 2021, Richardson was one of the fastest women in the world and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics as one of the favourites for the 100m event.

But her aspirations came crashing down when she tested positive for marijuana, a substance she consumed to deal with the passing of her mother at the time. She was suspended from competing for a month, which coincided with the 100m sprint event in Tokyo.

Richardson’s comeback to the track was slow in 2022 as she failed to qualify for the World Championships last year at home in Eugene Oregan.

A sprint star with the potential to soar seemed to be steadily headed down to earth.

But the eccentric runner dusted herself off this year and ran some of her best times to date.

Richardson won a Diamond League meet in May this year and a month ago in a preliminary heat at the national championships, she ran 10.71 second — a personal best that made her the seventh-fastest woman in history.

(From left) Bronze medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, Gold medalist Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States and Silver medalist Shericka Jackson of Jamaica celebrate after the Women’s 100m final at the World Athletics Championships 2023 on August 21, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images for World Athletics)

Lucky qualification

Richardson, however, almost didn’t qualify for the final of the World Championships on Monday.

Less than two hours before the final, she was placed in a semi-final with sprint dynamos Jackson and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.

After the slowest start in the semi-finals, Richardson had a poor reaction time of .222 out of the blocks, she turned on the afterburners and finished third in the race. There are only two automatic qualification spots so the American sprinter had to wait for all the semi-finals to end to see if she had qualified.

But her time of 10:84 seconds was fifth-fastest overall despite finishing third in her heat, as she qualified for a non-automatic spot.

It meant the electric runner would have to run in lane nine. A lane that had never seen a winner in the women’s 100m race in the history of the World Championships.

But Richardson was in Budapest to create history.

Jackson and Fraser-Pryce had the world’s attention in lanes four and five for the duration of the 100m sprint but across the last few steps, up stepped Richardson with her arms held aloft to snatch the crown from the magnetic Jamaican duo.

“Going into the final knowing that [I’ve] qualified and survived each round, getting into the final round knowing that all the heavy hitters are going to bring their best a-game, that helped me bring my best a-game as well,” Richardson said after the race.

Sha’Carri Richardson is overwhelmed after winning the Women’s 100m Final at the World Athletics Championships 2023. (Photo: Stephen Pond/Getty Images for World Athletics)

‘Just the beginning’

Richardson, still in the infancy of her professional running career said that there is still a lot more to come.

“This is just the start. This is just the beginning of my journey,” the gold medallist said.

“I’m honoured and blessed. I had great competition, it brought out the best out of myself and I’m just honoured to leave with the gold medal.

“This journey for me — since I first reached professional level until now — is knowing that no matter what happens, to never lose sight of yourself.”

Richardson also heaped praise on 36-year-old Fraser-Pryce who despite nearing the end of her career, continues to achieve podium finishes.

“Sitting next to these legends feels remarkable,” she said, flanked by Jackson and Fraser-Pryce in the post-race press conference.

“I just want to say [Fraser-Pryce] is an amazing athlete. I grew up watching her. I knew it was going to take my best to come forward and compete knowing that she’s doing this and can continue to be on the podium every single time.

“[It] shows me that I have a journey. I have more to do. What makes this sport so interesting is the fact that you can always do more and there’s so much more to pull out of yourself.”

Fraser-Pryce, meanwhile, was happy with her “rare” bronze medal.

“I’ve not won many bronze medals but given the circumstances of how I started the season, then it’s not bad,” she said.

“Being a champion is not all about winning. It is about showing up even when the odds are stacked against you. I’m grateful to have another medal to add to the tally.” DM