With all the spotlight on Sha’Carri Richardson, it’s hard to ignore the growing concerns surrounding the star sprinter. Her 2025 season doesn’t really look all that pleasing. And it all began with an injury early in February and a late start. The 100m dash at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix 2025 Tokyo on 18 May was Richardson’s first race of the season, and she finished 4th. Her clocking time? 11.47 seconds with a headwind of -0.9 m/s. It was subpar by her standards. And let us tell you, this was just the beginning of arguably the worst season for Sha’Carri Richardson in her senior career. 

Following her Prefontaine Classic run, Richardson claimed, “I’m definitely grateful for the long season. I know it’s going to give me time to be ready when it all counts—and the only thing that matters is World Championships.” But that’s not what we think, do we? 

Remember the recent poll we asked about Sha’Carri Richardson’s performance? The question was: After losing every race in 2025, can Sha’Carri Richardson still make her way to the podium at the Tokyo World Championships? And the majority of you (61.54%) were unified with a stern “No!” Well, the reason is pretty clear. 

Sha’Carri Richardson has lost all of her races in the 2025 season

We all know that Richardson can run sub-11 seconds in 100m races. She did win the 100m dash at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a clocking time of 10.65 seconds, her personal best. Although her performance at the Paris Olympics wasn’t record-breaking, she did cross the finish line in 10.87 seconds, winning the silver. On top of that, she played a vital role in the anchor leg of the 4×100 relay race in the 2024 Olympics, helping her team claim the gold medals. But the same can’t be said for her performance this season.

She ended the 100m dash at the Prefontaine Classic in 11.19 seconds, coming 9th. The USA Championships were a bit better as Richardson came in second and clocked 11.07 seconds in the heats. But that didn’t matter since she had to pull out of the semifinals. Her recent performance at the Silesia Diamond League also ended with nothing but disappointment in her supporters’ hearts, as she finished 6th with at 11.05 seconds. If you haven’t noticed already, she hasn’t gone sub-11 seconds this season. 

And this has happened before. Her 2021 season was also turbulent. The USADA cancelled her appearance in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, even though she finished first in the qualifiers. And to worsen it all, she finished ninth at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic in August 2021. Nevertheless, she did manage to end the season with a silver at Citta di Padova. But this time, things seem a bit different.

Even before the 2025 USATF, in the video that FloTrack uploaded on their YouTube channel, Richardson was seen facing some problems with starting her run. While training with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Kayla White, and others in Orlando, Richardson was slower than her usual self. She had an upright and laboured posture at the block start. And how can we forget the punishment pushups! No wonder analysts are also ringing alarm bells.

Track and field analysts align with fans’ opinions

And we’re not alone in believing that Richardson might fail to secure a podium finish in Tokyo. Ato Boldon pointed out that Julien Alfred and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden were in a completely different league compared to Richardson. And that’s in the mid-10.5s. As far as Richardson was concerned, Boldon stated, “It’s too late to think that she’s [Sha’Carri] going to go from, in my mind, she’s going to go from where she is, to being able to, you know, pulling up next to Julian and Melissa.” 

The celebrated track and field analyst, David E. Robinson (Coach Rob), was also of a similar mindset. He claimed, “We have a lot of evidence this year that Sha’Carri Richardson is likely not going to be on the podium. But if you’re still putting her there, you’re doing it because of what we’ve seen in history.” He highlighted Richardson’s slow reaction time. Even at the 2024 Olympics, she pushed off after 0.221 seconds, compared to Alfred’s 0.144. But we gotta praise her speed. 

It’s true that Richardson isn’t really the fastest off the blocks. Her initial 30m are pretty inconsistent. But she knows how to pick up speed after the 40m mark. She usually catches her competition between 40-60m and goes for a powerful finish. And that’s probably why there’s still a sliver of hope in Richardson’s eyes. 

Patient and positive, Sha’Carri Richardson hasn’t lost hope despite her 2025 season failure

For now, Richardson’s focus has shifted to the Brussels Diamond League, scheduled for August 22. And after her recent loss at the Silesia Diamond League, she took to Instagram and shared a cryptic message. Of course, we all know what it means. She wrote, “In due time, that’s all I gotta say…” 

Effectively, that means she’s hoping to regain her pride and redeem herself at the World Championships. She now has to beat Jefferson-Wooden, who has also clocked a record time of 10.65 seconds. The same as Richardson’s personal best. 

But no matter the challenge, we know that Sha’Carri Richardson will always show up. After all, she believes that she’s the “secret weapon” coming to Tokyo. The reigning world champion, following her USATF 100m first round, stated, “I think I’m cruising under the radar, but when it’s time to hit, it’s going to be a bang when y’all see my name.” 

Now, all we gotta do is wait and watch!