Sha'Carri Richardson is 100 meters away from making her disappointment surrounding the Tokyo Olympics seem like a distant memory.
The Team USA track star with the distinctive flair will make her Olympic debut in Paris, three years after missing the postponed Games in Tokyo due to a marijuana suspension.
Richardson, 24, has rebounded from that heartbreak to put herself in position to claim the title of the world's fastest woman as the favorite in the 100-meter race in Paris.
She is trying to become the first American woman to win the 100-meter race since Gail Devers back in 1996. All the gold medalists since 2008 have been from Jamaica.
Here's what to know about the budding star.
What events will Sha'Carri Richardson run in Paris?
The only individual race Richardson qualified for is the 100-meter race, which is always one of the marquee events of the entire track and field segment.
Richardson did not qualify in the 200-meter race, so everything is primarily focused on just one sprint.
She enters as the favorite after running the fastest time by any woman in the world this year at the U.S. Olympic trials. Her biggest competition looks to be Jamaican star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Shericka Jackson, also from Jamaica, withdrew from the 100-meter race on July 31, saying she decided instead to solely focus on the 200-meter race.
There also is a strong possibility that Richardson will be part of the U.S. women's 4x100 relay team, which has not been officially announced yet.
When will Sha'Carri Richardson be running?
If you want to see her first action on the track in Paris, you're going to have get up early, but the good news is that if she's in the final as expected, it's an afternoon race.
The preliminary round for the women's 100-meter race is at 4:35 a.m. Eastern time on Aug. 2, followed by round one of qualifying at 4:50 a.m. ET.
If Richardson progresses through the preliminaries, she will be in the 100-meter final at 3:20 p.m. ET on Aug. 3 in front of 77,000 roaring fans at the Stade de France.
The women's 4x100 preliminary heats are at 5:10 a.m. ET on Aug. 8, and the final is at 1:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 9.
All the action will be streamed live on Peaco*ck and NBCOlympics.com.
Why didn't Sha'Carri Richardson run in the Tokyo Olympics?
Richardson was predicted to be a medalist at the postponed Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, but a positive test for marijuana resulted in her being left off the U.S. team.
The rising star won the 100-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Oregon. She confirmed in an appearance on TODAY in July 2021 that she had used marijuana, which resulted in a one-month suspension that meant missing the Olympics.
She said on TODAY that her biological mother died the week before the trials, during which time she used marijuana to cope.
“People don’t understand what it’s like to have to … go in front of the world and put on a face and hide my pain," she said. "Who am I to tell you how to cope when you’re dealing with the pain or you’re dealing with a struggle that you haven’t experienced before or that you thought you never would have to deal with?”
Richardson showed remorse for her suspension.
“I apologize,” she said. “As much as I’m disappointed, I know that when I step on the track, I don’t represent myself. I represent a community that has shown me great support, great love and I failed you all. So I apologize for the fact that I didn’t know how to control my emotions or deal with my emotions.
“I greatly apologize if I let you guys down, and I did.”
What was Richardson's journey to the Paris Olympics like?
In her first 100-meter race after the suspension, Richardson finished in last place in August 2021 against a field of the top runners from the Tokyo Olympics at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon.
“This is one race. I’m not done," Richardson said afterward. "You know what I’m capable of. Count me out if you want to."
She delivered on her words, roaring back over the next three years to reclaim her place as one of best sprinters in the world.
Richardson has particularly rounded into form in the past year, which includes winning the world championships in August 2023 in a meet-record 10.65 seconds. She also won gold as part of the 4x100 relay team and took the bronze in the 200-meter race.
In May 2024, she returned to the Prefontaine Classic, the site of her last-place finish in 2021, and won the 100-meter race in 10.83 seconds. Richardson followed that by running 10.71 at the U.S. Olympic trials in June for the fastest time by any woman in the world this year.
What is behind Sha'Carri Richardson's distinctive style?
The Dallas native is known almost as much for her colorful hair and long, embellished nails as for her blazing speed.
She has cited her grandmother and a U.S. track legend as the inspirations for her style.
Richardson's look pays homage to the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, whose distinctive race outfits and colorful nails made her a sensation as she shattered numerous world records in the 1980s. Her record of 10.49 seconds in the 100 still stands 35 years later.
“Flo-Jo came to the track and knew she was going to dominate,” Richardson told The Associated Press in 2021. “The way she did that was graceful. I always liked that. If the amazing Flo-Jo had long nails, there was no excuse why I couldn’t have long nails.”
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Scott Stump is a trending reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY (which you should subscribe to here!) that brings the day's news, health tips, parenting stories, recipes and a daily delight right to your inbox. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing features and news for pop culture, parents, politics, health, style, food and pretty much everything else.
