Sha’Kary Richardson missed out on the gold medal in the 100m final due to a delayed start that took her 0.221 seconds to get going, making the medal an achievement in itself.
That reaction time was the slowest of the eight runners, about a tenth of a second behind eventual winner Julian Alfred of St. Lucia, and Richardson had to spend the rest of the race trying to catch up.
She eventually overtook six other sprinters but not Alfred, who won the island nation’s first medal by 0.15 seconds, its largest margin of victory in the event since 2008.
Despite entering the event as the favorite to win, Richardson’s starts had been in jeopardy for some time, including failing to qualify in the 200 meters at the Olympic Trials.
2024 Paris Olympics
She also got off to a poor start in Paris, losing to Alfred in the 100m semi-finals, a sign of things to come.
Richardson was absent from interviews in the mixed zone in Paris after winning the silver medal and was therefore unavailable to discuss the disappointing result or what went wrong.
But the silver medal was a major disappointment for the United States, as Richardson was expected to win gold and complete a redemption saga that began after he was disqualified from the Tokyo Olympics three years ago for testing positive for THC.
The Dallas native competed in Paris following her gold medal win at the 2023 World Championships, but ultimately fell short.
