Sha'Carri Richardson overcomes wobbly start for win in first heat at US Olympic trials

EUGENE, Oregon (AP) — Sha'Carri Richardson wobbled out of the starting blocks and raced with one of her shoelaces untied but still managed to win her heat on the opening night of the US Olympic track trials.

Even in a race that was far from a masterpiece, Richardson was the fastest 100-meter sprinter in Friday's preliminary round and set herself up to race for a spot in the Paris Olympics.

She finished in 10.88 seconds — fastest of any of the 34 sprinters spread over four races, and only .02 seconds off the time she ran three years ago, when she won the trials, only to have the victory erased by a positive test for marijuana.

"That tells me I'm prepared," she said in a post-race interview with NBC. "I just need to put it all together."

Richardson will be back on the track Saturday for the semifinals. If she finishes in the top two in that race, she'll go for the title. The top three finishers in the final will head to Paris, where Richardson would try to add that title to the world championship she won last year.

The 24-year-old sprinter was the headliner on opening night at University of Oregon's Hayward Field, wearing a gold-and-black running suit with her trademark, long nails to match. But when the gun sounded, she stumbled to her right and was briefly in last place.

"I definitely didn't have the start I've been training to have in this moment," she said. "But I'm still not panicking. I'm staying patient and knowing no matter what's going on to continue to run my race."

Things went sideways shortly after her victory in 2021, when her marijuana positive was revealed, after which she disclosed she had been battling with depression in the wake of her mother's recent death and other issues.

Ever since, she has been on a long comeback that she looks at a different way — "I'm not back, I'm better." And, by almost every count — especially the ones the public can chart on the track — she is.

She came into trials as the reigning world champion, and also with a victory on this track last month in the Prefontaine Classic. She is the early favourite to win the Olympics in what is always a stacked field filled with Jamaicans.

Asked how she's dealing with her rising fortunes, she said "I'm enjoying the recognition of hard work, the support that comes with it."

"The fact that the world can see so much work I've done on myself, for myself, and the world receives that, I'm appreciative and I will always show up for my fans," she said.

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