Richardson opens individual 2023 campaign with impressive 100m win
Sports
Only world record-holder Florence Griffith and Jamaica's Elaine Thompson have ever run faster
Miami (AFP) – US sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson won her first solo race of 2023 in sensational style on Saturday, clocking a wind-aided 10.57sec to win the Miramar Invitational 100m.
Only world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner and Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah have ever run faster, and even benefitting from a favorable wind of 4.1 meters per second Richardson set a tone for a season that will be highlighted by the World Championships in Budapest in August.
Richardson, who had opened her season with a 4x100m relay appearance at the Texas Relays last week, was already celebrating when she crossed the line, with Twanisha Terry a distant second in 10.83.
It was another tantalizing glimpse of the 23-year-old's talent. She dazzled at the US Olympic trials in 2021 but saw her dream of Tokyo gold end when she tested positive for marijuana and was suspended.
Last year she failed to qualify for the US Olympic team for the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In other events, American Christian Coleman held off Botswana's Letsile Tebogo for a narrow win in the 200m, both men clocking 20.00sec in a legal wind of 1.9m/sec.
That's the fastest time in the world this year, improving on the 20.05 posted by Terrence Jones in Austin last weekend. Abby Steiner won the women's 200m in a world-leading 22.23sec.
