Is Sha'Carri Richardson primed to break the Flo-Jo's 100m world record?

ATHLETICS: Is Sha'Carri Richardson primed to break the Flo-Jo's 100m world record?

Abigael Wafula 18:00 - 05.09.2023

Richardson has been in great form, coming back from a doping ban, and being able to clock such fast times is something many athletes have failed to keep up with.

As she cruised to the finish line to win the women’s 100m race at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, many track and field fans were in awe of Sha’Carri Richardson’s speed.

She equaled the world-leading time of 10.65 set by Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson during the Jamaican Championships.

Richardson has been in great form, coming back from a doping ban, and being able to clock such fast times is something many athletes have failed to keep up with. She has only lost one race so far this season, finishing second at the Gyulai István Memorial, a Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix.

After her win at the World Championships, an old video of the current world record holder Griffith Joyner’s husband disclosed how Richardson and Elaine Thompson (considered the fastest woman alive) remind him of her late wife.

In the interview, as quoted by Essentially Sports, the late Joyner’s husband said: “When I see Richardson and Elaine Thompson, they remind me of my late wife.”

Thompson has been undergoing various challenges after changing her coach and has not been in her best form yet but she is slowly announcing her return.

However, Richardson has been in impeccable form after her return. In many post-race interviews, the 23-year-old always makes it clear that she is here to stay and she is not back but she is better.

She has recorded pretty fast times this season and her speed is just like that of the late Joyner. Joyner’s world record time currently stands at 10.49, a time she set in 1988.

Many have tried breaking it but it has proven impossible and the only other woman who came close to that record was Thompson who ran 10.54 during the 2021 Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meet.

Five-time world 100m champion Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce comes in third with a time of 10.60 as former American sprinter Carmelita Jeter comes in fourth with a time of 10.64 as Richardson, Shericka Jackson and Marion Jones tie in the fifth place.

23-year-old Richardson has had a great progression and if she continues with the consistency, she might just shock the whole world.

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