Sha’Carri Richardson redeemed her 2024 Paris Olympics disappointment by winning the 100-meter final at the Diamond League meet in Switzerland. A month after losing to her in the Summer Games, Richardson defeated Saint Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred.
Initially trailing Alfred, Richardson mounted a comeback in the final stretch to secure victory, according to the New York Post.
“This is probably the funniest race I’ve had all season,” Richardson said. “I took that time after the Games to come back, regroup, and be able to show you guys the Sha’Carri Richardson y’all know.”
Richardson clocked 10.84 seconds on the wet track in Zurich, narrowly beating Julien Alfred by four-hundredths of a second to claim first place.
“I am just having fun. I am trying to finish strong. I really have not had the chance to take my medal in,” Alfred said after the race, per AFP News. “After Paris I went back to Texas, did some training. It has been up and down, I am still working on the fine-tuning.”
Richardson won silver in the 100-meter on August 3, with Julien Alfred winning in 10.72 seconds compared to Richardson’s 10.87.
Returning to the Olympics after a 2021 suspension for testing positive for marijuana, the 24-year-old set a world record of 10.71 in the U.S. Olympic trials, just edging out Alfred’s Olympic time.