When Sha’Carri Richardson ran 10.65 seconds in 2023, it felt like the beginning of something special. After all, she was just 23 and had produced the fourth fastest women’s 100m time ever at the time. But three years later, 10.65 remains her personal best. Richardson has yet to improve on that mark and has struggled to find the same consistency with that familiar issue surfacing again at the 2026 Ultimate Championship, where Melissa Jefferson-Wooden beat her in the 100m final. Now, Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross believes she may know what is holding Richardson back.

“The thing about Sha’Carri Richardson is Sha’Carri is extremely talented,” Richards-Ross said during her September 15 appearance on The Morning Hustle. “Until she figures out her start, which has been her Achilles heel in her races since college, it’s going to be very hard to compete with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Julien Alfred.”

Those comments came just days after the Ultimate Championship, where Richardson’s start once again became an important part of the story. She advanced to the 100m final after running 10.75 seconds in her semifinal, but finished third in the final in 10.76. Jefferson-Wooden stormed to victory in 10.62, with Alfred taking second in 10.74.

The reaction-time figures made Richardson’s start even more noticeable. Her 0.173-second reaction time was the slowest of all eight finalists. Alfred reacted in 0.144, Jefferson-Wooden in 0.163, and even eighth-place finisher Amy Hunt reacted faster at 0.156. The difference between Richardson and Alfred was 0.029 seconds before the race had even properly developed. 

However, that wasn’t a problem at the start of the season. So much so, that fans even predicted that the 26-year-old had overcome her reaction time and issues with her start. After all, that had been a looming issue throughout her career, with Richardson struggling in the first two phases.

Then, after videos emerged of her practice session before the season began, many believed she had solved her problems. Yet, given how her 2026 season ended, it’s clear that her reaction time alone didn’t cost Richardson the race. But it did show the exact weakness Richards-Ross was talking about.

Richardson has traditionally possessed the closing speed to make up ground. She’s been notoriously mediocre in the first two stages of the race before turning into an elite sprinter in the final two. In fact, few sprinters finish a race better than Sha’Carri Richardson, although many start better than her. Yet that becomes much harder when Jefferson-Wooden and Alfred are able to establish an advantage early on.

“She was that girl,” Richards-Ross added. “And I think she still got that 10 six in her legs.”

“But until she fixes her start, it’s so hard to bet against Melissa Jefferson-Wooden,” Richards-Ross said, pointing to Jefferson-Wooden’s ability to perform from the opening steps through the finish. And this is not a completely new issue for Richardson.

At the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, she stumbled coming out of the blocks in her opening 100m heat but still recovered to win in 10.88 seconds. Afterward, Richardson admitted, “Definitely didn’t have the start that I’ve been training for.” Richardson has also continued putting work into her starts.

That belief is important because Richards-Ross was not writing Richardson off. The former Olympic champion still sees the potential for another 10.6-second performance and pointed to Richardson’s world-title credentials as proof that she can remain a threat.

Despite this, Richardson has struggled to turn those performances into wins when she has lined up against her biggest rivals this season. 

Sha’Carri Richardson found wins in 2026, but struggled when Jefferson-Wooden and Julien stood beside her

Richardson opened her 100m campaign on June 14 at the USATF LA Grand Prix, winning in 10.99 seconds ahead of Kayla White and Tamari Davis. She also won the Stawell Gift in April, although that was a 120m handicap race rather than a standard 100m event. Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction.

But then, at the Prefontaine Classic on July 4, Richardson came within one hundredth of a second of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Melissa won in 10.78, while Richardson finished second in 10.79. Richardson closed strongly, but Jefferson-Wooden had done enough early in the race to hold her off.

The rivalry became even tougher at the Silesia Diamond League on August 23, where Richardson finally lined up against both Jefferson-Wooden and Julien Alfred. Jefferson-Wooden won in 10.78, Alfred followed in 10.83, and Richardson finished third in 10.96. Just four days later, Richardson faced the same two rivals again in Zürich. This time, Alfred produced a Saint Lucian record of 10.70 to take the win, with Jefferson-Wooden also running 10.70 for second. Richardson was third in 10.97.

Then came the Ultimate Championship in Budapest, where Richardson once again found herself behind both women. So while Richardson has certainly won races in 2026, including the LA Grand Prix and the U.S. 100m title, she has not beaten either Jefferson-Wooden or Alfred in their major 100m meetings this season.