Sha’Carri Richardson’s Silver Lining: The Track Superstar Wins Her First Olympic Medal

Sha’Carri Richardson is a now an Olympic medal winner, and it’s a bright and brilliant silver.

In Paris’s Stade de France, the 24-year-old track-and-field superstar took second place in the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.87 seconds. Richardson—sporting cat-eye makeup and her signature statement nails—powered through rain, but could not catch St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred, who clinched gold with a time of 10.72 seconds, earning the Caribbean nation’s very first Olympic medal—across any sport—in history.

Dallas-born Richardson is the reigning world champion in the event, having attained that title in Budapest last year. With a string of leading qualifying rounds going into and at the Games, she was a favorite ahead of the race, but Alfred was also looking in top form—particularly in the semi-finals.

There is some redemption in Richardson winning her first Olympic medal, which many feel is overdue: She was suspended from the Tokyo 2021 Games for testing positive for THC.

Over the past three years, though, she has put in the tireless work and toil, and reminded the world that we shouldn’t be looking in the rearview mirror—because she isn’t. “I’m not back. I’m better” has become her catchphrase.

It’s worth noting that the podium this time around features a roster of all first-time Olympians, with another American (and Richardson’s training partner), Melissa Jefferson, nabbing bronze. No Jamaican women—who had won gold in this event since 2008—medaled. Tia Clayton had a shot, but placed seventh. Multiple-time medalist and one of Jamaica and sport’s most famous names, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, had qualified for the semis but was a last-minute scratch for reasons as yet unknown. Amazingly, Fraser-Pryce had been in the 100-meter final every Games since Beijing, 2008.

“Every time you step on the track, it’s a validation of the time you’ve put in, the sacrifices you make on the daily,” Richardson told Vogue in an interview for our August 2024 digital cover. “When I get on the blocks, it’s about getting the job done.” Later, she added, “Every race I have leading up to [the Olympics] matters, too. That’s my opportunity to grow, so by the time I’m on the track in Paris, I know I’ve done my trial and error.”

Thoroughly, it seems: Sha’Carri Richardson is decisively on track.