Fans have not been going easy on Sha’Carri Richardson this year. To start with, the disappointment stems from her opening the season very late. And then came her performances. She kicked off her season at the Tokyo Grand Prix, clocking 11.47 seconds into a 0.9 m/s headwind to finish fourth in the 100 m. The 2025 Prefontaine Classic—an eye-opener again. So to say, despite improving to 11.19 seconds, the Olympian crossed the finish line in 9th, far behind Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s blazing 10.75-second win. Now they have been waiting for Richardson to be the champion they know in the USA Nationals today. However…

Well, the Olympian lost again. But here’s the silver lining: Sha’Carri claimed her first podium finish of the 2025 season today. At the 2025 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at Hayward Field in Eugene from July 31 to August 3, Richardson competed in the women’s 100 m. The 2023 World Champion finished second with a time of 11.07 seconds, while Kayla White took the win in 10.89 seconds, delivering a strong performance in a competitive field. Fans, however, are disappointed, not because she lost, but because she’s repeating the same mistake.

As the commentator announced today, “Richardson tried to reel her in, gonna get second here,” she clocked her season best, behind Kayla White, who had just run the fastest she has ever read. Could she have done something differently? Well, this fan writes, “If Shacarri had a better, more consistent start, she’d be literally unstoppable.” This is not just a thing that only the fans point out.

Back when she finished last in the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, she was asked about areas of improvement, and her answer was also her starts. In another training session captured and circulated on Reddit, Richardson’s start out of the blocks appears conspicuously delayed. Unlike her training partners, she rises awkwardly after the gun, failing to generate the powerful drive phase expected at this stage in her training. She left a positive note for the fans after the race, but noticing a slow start again in another race, fans are criticizing the Olympian for it.

Track and Field community criticizes Sha’Carri Richardson for slow starts

Fans are turning over the 2023 World Champion for the recurring error in her race. One fan said, “Sha’Carri Richardson is a generational talent – but her starts have always been her Achilles’ heel. Even in her prime, she’s rarely explosive out of the blocks. What’s special is her top-end gear: once she hits stride, it’s lights out. But in the 100m, a slow start is a gamble.” In the finals of the Budapest World Championships, her reaction time was 0.156s, 7th fastest out of 9 competitors.

Another user commented, “I know it’s just the opening heats, but Sha’Carri doesn’t have that juice so far this year…and those starts continue to be a problem. Hoping she finds that burst she had last time around.” Losing a race is not that big of a deal, but how she is losing it – no podium finishes and a last position in one of them is bound to leave the fans concerned. Another fan said, “Man her starts are not improving at all! She is getting out to blocks terrible and having to make up so much ground.”

One of the reasons she lost the gold in Paris was her start. Her reaction time of .221 seconds, which was the slowest of all 8 finalists. “Sha’Carri seems like she will forever be haunted by getting out the blocks slow, been happening since college,” commented another user. But now that Sha’Carri is seeing the issue herself, do you think she can tackle it by the time Tokyo comes?