Dallas' own Sha’Carri Richardson made her long-awaited Olympic debut Friday as track and field events rev up at the Paris Olympics. Her odds just got better with the absence of one of her top challengers in the 100-meter dash.
Richardson came to France as a favorite and only saw her status improve when Shericka Jackson of Jamaica announced she withdrew from the 100-meter dash.
SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON
All things considered, the 100m first-round heat Friday morning should be nothing more than a warmup and a tuneup for the 24-year-old from Dallas.
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She debuts as the favorite in the women's 100-meter dash in a first-round heat that starts at 4:50 a.m. CT.
The morning track and field events air on E! starting at 3 a.m. CT and will replay on NBC 5 at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON 'JUST HAS TO EXECUTE'
Richardson is the reigning world champion in the event, and her 10.71-second sprint at the U.S. trials in June made her the fastest woman in the world this year.
Richardson will still face tough competition from three-time Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, who has won the race twice. Fraser-Pryce is competing in her fifth and final Olympics.
But remember this: At the Olympic Trials, Richardson wobbled out of the starting blocks in her first race and needed to turn on the jets after a bad start. She won the heat with her right shoelace untied.
“I think she's positioned perfectly,” Allyson Felix, the most decorated track and field athlete in history, said. “She's coming off a world championship. She looks to be the overwhelming favorite. I think she just has to execute.”
Richardson, who missed the Tokyo Games because of a positive marijuana test at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, is on a quest for redemption.
The Dallas Carter High School grad doesn’t hide behind her journey; she embraces it. “I’m not back, I’m better” has been Richardson's mantra.
GOLD MEDAL WINNERS GET A $50K CHECK AND A CHANCE TO RING BELL
Besides a gold medal, Richarson will be racing for cash and a clang.
World Athletics gives first-time winners in all 48 Olympic track events a $50,000 first prize.
All track and field winners will also be given the honor of ringing the big bell inscribed with “Paris 2024” on the edge of the track at Stade de France.
As part of the Paris Olympics legacy, the bell will eventually move from the stadium to a permanent home at the rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral.
