Sha-Carri Richardson is going viral, after she ripped off the orange wig to reveal braids as her name was called before Friday’s finals.
The move caused the crowd to utter startled cheers and laughs inside the stadium, but never cracked Sha-Carri unsmiling expression. After she made her move, Sha-Carri then loaded into the blocks. And after a slow start to the race, the gorgeous track star powered to the championship and kept sprinting another 100 meters, pumping a fist in the air.
The talent of Richardson, a past NCAA champion, was never questioned. Her consistency was.
But she may have turned a corner. This year she has run seven 100s, and all have been sub-11 seconds. That string of races, and the way she controlled all of them in Eugene, raises the question of who will win in August’s world championships in Hungary when it becomes Richardson against the world’s best.
In 2020, Sha’Carri failed drug test cost her the spot she earned in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, then she failed to advance past the first round at last year’s U.S. track and field championships.
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