Richardson finishes 4th, won’t have spot in 200M at Olympics

Coley Harvey, ESPN Staff WriterJun 29, 2024, 09:05 PM ET

Previously covered Florida State for Orlando Sentinel and Georgia Tech for Macon Telegraph
Northwestern University graduateEUGENE, Ore. — American track and field enthusiasts take a lot of pride in making one bold bodacious claim.

When it comes to qualifying for the Olympics, they contend their team is the toughest one to make — of any sport, in any country.

Given what took place in two electrifying men’s and women’s 200-meter U.S. Olympic Trials races that lived up to their heightened expectations Saturday night, the track and field diehards may have a point.

“The U.S. has been dominating. We’ve had two medalists at least at each world championship and Olympics since 2021,” sprinter Noah Lyles said. “So the 200, we definitely have a strong, strong (chance) for sweeping it.”

For the men like Lyles, it was business as usual in Saturday’s final. By the end of the tightly-contested sprint, the top 3 included the likes of Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton. A semblance of that trio had long been expected to emerge from the last heat, and qualify for the Paris Games.

“We were supposed to (sweep) in Tokyo,” Bednarek said. “But I’m feeling very confident that we can get the job done this time. We’ve all got to make sure to execute when it matters most and get the job done.”

Although Bednarek charged out to an early lead and appeared in position to hold on late for the win, it was ultimately Lyles’ new world-leading, meet-record, 19.53-second time that paced the field of runners. Bednarek checked in at 19.59 seconds and Knighton had a 19.77-second time.

Unlike his long celebratory jog up half the next turn after victoriously finishing the 100-meter final last week, Lyles cruised to a much earlier stop and slapped hands with Bednarek before realizing what he had accomplished.

“I’ve kind of come to the 200 as it’s like harder and harder for me to celebrate, because I’ve kind of gotten into this streak of winning it so many times,” Lyles said. “That doesn’t mean I’m not trying to take it for granted because it’s my favorite race, by far.”

While the men’s race played out in a somewhat expected way, it was a different story for the women. Sha’Carri Richardson, the third-fastest woman in the event at last summer’s world championships, won’t participate in it in Paris.

A fourth-place finish in Saturday’s intense final heat will limit her to only running the 100-meter dash, and participate on relay teams.

Instead, the woman who took 200-meter bronze at the last Olympics, Gabby Thomas, will run the event in Paris alongside NCAA champion McKenzie Long, and veteran first-time Olympian, Brittany Brown.

“I feel like everything’s coming together right where it needs to and I’ve done my job,” Thomas said, “and now we’re looking at a gold medal.”

Much like she did throughout the trials, Thomas cruised by the end of the finals, crossing the finish line in 21.81 seconds. Brown took the silver behind her with a 21.90-second showing, and Long, the NCAA 200-meter champion competing five months to the day her mother died, registered a 21.91-second time.

“I know my mom was smiling cheek-to-cheek,” Long said, a smile forming on her own face. “I know she’s beyond proud of me and that’s all I care about.

“Just crossing that line, knowing that I’m an Olympian now, it’s so surreal.”

Upon crossing the finish line shortly after Thomas, Long reached toward her lane neighbor, smacking her arm to get her attention. In one fluid motion, Thomas, the 200-meter bronze medalist in Tokyo, turned and hugged Long.

Right after, Thomas told Long what she dreamt about the night before: she dreamed the 23-year-old was going to be an Olympian.

“I was like: ‘You didn’t want to tell me this before we got out there?'” Long said. “But yeah, that’s what she told me. She was like, ‘I’m really, really proud of you. I literally tell her all the time: ‘I want to be you.’

“She’s inspiring. That’s my goal, I want to be like Gabby Thomas.”

Said the 27-year-old Thomas: “To have a younger athlete look at me and say that, it just feels so surreal, but it makes me happy. It really feels like it’s giving me purpose. That’s why I do this: to make other girls feel inspired.”

Just before the heat, Long said Richardson pulled her to the side and also offered words of encouragement. Similarly, Richardson dealt with learning about the loss of her own biological mother while competing at the trials three years ago. She wanted Long to know she wasn’t in this alone, Long said.

While Richardson was the odd woman out of her heat, the men will go to Paris without the likes of Christian Coleman, the world’s No. 1 100-meter runner who also failed to qualify in the 100, and Kyree King. The fourth- and fifth-place finishers were 0.12 and 0.13 seconds behind Knighton’s third-place showing, respectively.