American sprinter and reigning World champion Sha’Carri Richardson won her first Olympic medal in the women’s 100 meters at the Paris Games on Friday, taking home silver with a time of 10.87 seconds.
Richardson was defeated by Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, who finished with a time of 10.72 seconds. Fellow American Melissa Jefferson came in third, earning the bronze medal with a time of 10.92.
An American woman hasn’t won the women’s 100 meters at an Olympics in nearly three decades, since Gail Devers at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
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Richardson, 24, received a roaring ovation ahead of her semifinal heat earlier Friday, when she finished second to earn an automatic berth to the final. Richardson ran 10.89 but lost that qualifying heat to Alfred, who ran a 10.84.
Fellow U.S. sprinter Twanisha Terry also qualified for Friday’s final, finishing fifth in the final with a time of 10.97.
Richardson did not compete against two-time Olympic champion and eight-time Olympic medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica after she shockingly pulled out of the event just moments before her semifinal heat. No immediate reason for withdrawing was given. The 37-year-old earlier announced that this would be her final Olympic Games.
Earlier Friday, both Richardson and Fraser-Pryce were temporarily denied entry to Stade de France’s warm-up area ahead of the semifinals because they reportedly arrived at the venue in private vehicles rather than the team shuttle, which violated an overnight rule change that required athletes who aren’t staying in the Olympics Village to enter into the warm-up track through a separate entrance.
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