Sha’Carri Richardson — the spiky queen of spikes Premium

The 23-year-old’s irresistible talent, feisty personality and captivating aura electrified the World Championships, where she beat some of the fastest women ever. The star-making performance was just what athletics needed — and it heightened the anticipation for Paris 2024

Sha’Carri Richardson was on the superstar arc when she broke the 100 metres NCAA collegiate record as a 19-year-old in 2019. 

With her obvious talent, feisty attitude and striking charisma, she looked set to blossom into not just an elite sprinter but also a fan-favourite who could fill stadiums. When she cruised to a win at the US Olympic trials two years later, with her orange hair flowing behind her, it appeared as if another fairytale script of a champion in waiting was unfolding.

But that victory quickly came off the books after she tested positive for marijuana — a doping violation she readily admitted, saying she was in a bad place after her mother’s death.

A raucous debate — a lot of it hashed out on social media — ensued over whether marijuana, not a performance enhancer, belonged on the banned list (it’s still there), but also whether regulators were too eager to go after a young, outspoken, Black, American woman (they said everyone is subject to the same rules). Her name turned into a litmus test in a wide-ranging discussion about race, fairness, the often-impenetrable anti-doping rulebook and, ultimately, about the sometimes razor-thin line between right and wrong.

Richardson spiralled downward for a while, both off the track and on. Her initial contrition — which even earned praise from US President Joe Biden — seemed to harden into something close to bitterness. She finished ninth in her much-hyped return from suspension at the Prefontaine Classic in 2021. She then saw her hopes of challenging for a medal at last year’s World Championships in Eugene go up in smoke when she failed to qualify in the trials.

Richardson finally started rounding into form to start 2023. The World Championships at Budapest was to be the ultimate proving ground for the Texas-born dynamo after years of enormous expectations. And she finally delivered, overcoming the challenge of being stuck in lane nine to earn a gold medal in the biggest 100 metres race this side of the Olympics.

In addition to winning the blue riband event, the 23-year-old anchored the American women’s team to gold in the 4x100m relay and took bronze in the 200m, capping a stunning comeback with a star-making performance in her first major competition on the world stage.