Dallas native Sha’Carri Richardson won her first Olympic gold medal with a come-from-behind anchor leg that propelled Team USA to the top of the podium in the 4x100m relay at a very rainy Stade de France Friday.
The team that took to the track Friday, was the same team that raced in the qualifying heat — with Melissa Jefferson leading off, handing the baton to Twanisha Terry, then Gabby Thomas and finally Richardson.
The exchange between Terry and Thomas that nearly wrecked the Americans in qualifying was better on Friday.
Still, when Thomas handed off to Richardson, the U.S. was in third.
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Richardson had to reel in Daryll Neita (Britain) and Rebekka Haase (Germany), and when she did, she flashed a look to her right — and backward — that said ″you’re not catching me.”
She sprinted eight more steps down the track, and on her ninth, lifted her left leg high and stomped it on the other side of the finish line, then let out a scream.
The U.S. finished in 41.78 seconds, good for a .07-second win over Britain, which struggled with two baton changes in the rain.
The 24-year-old from Dallas went so fast, it took a moment for the scoreboard to catch up.
The initial results on the massive videoboard indicated Britain had hit the line first. Richardson knew better. When the mistake was fixed — with a "one" next to the U.S.'s time of 41.78 — Richardson's long journey to the top of the podium was finally over.
“The moment that I would describe is realizing that when we won as USA ladies, it was a phenomenal feeling for all of us," Richardson said.
When the Americans headed to ring the victory bell in a corner of the stadium, Richardson went last and tugged at it four times while letting out a scream of joy that was a long time coming.
It marked a sweet close to the Olympics for Richardson, who came into the Olympics as a favorite in Saturday's 100m but surprisingly fell to Julien Alfred of St. Lucia.
Richardson secured silver in Saturday's 100m and returned Friday to claim Team USA's third 4x100m relay gold in the last four Olympics.
Thomas added a second gold after winning the 200m race earlier in the week and Jefferson is bringing home relay gold and bronze in the 100m. It is Terry's only medal at the Paris Olympics.
