EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Her burst out of the starting block was more like a wobble. Sha’Carri Richardson also raced with one of her shoelaces untied.
None of it mattered much on the opening night of U.S. 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 a mere .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 less than two hours later. 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 bounced out of the block and warbled across her lane as she struggled to get upright. She was briefly in last place. Not until she was a good 10 steps down the track did she hit her stride, then hit overdrive and pass the other eight racers.
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