The stakes were high in the women’s 100m at the World Championships. Melissa Jefferson Wooden was putting her unbeaten streak on the line, Julien Alfred was looking for St. Lucia’s first 100m World Championships gold, but for Sha’Carri Richardson, it was pride. After a difficult season, she was eyeing a successful run, but what followed was heartbreak. In the women’s 100m finals, her compatriot Jefferson-Wooden clocked 10.61s (finishing first), breaking Richardson’s 10.65s record. However, Richardson finished 5th with 10.94s on the clock. She is heartbroken, but her spirit is unwavering.

“2025 owes me nothing but I am thankful for what this year has revealed and allowing the tone to be set for the rest of my life. I am Sha’Carri Richardson & there is so much more to come, just wait and see ⏳!” captioned Richardson as she posted her pictures from the Japan National Stadium. It has been a bad year for the Olympian. But she has not given up.

Richardson also quoted in the caption, “You have to dig through dirt to get to the treasure.” After the 100m heat in the Worlds, she said, “I know that this year is not what I ideally saw as being my golden year. But when I think of ‘golden’ now, I think of buried treasure, and sometimes you’ve got to dig through the dirt to get to the gold.” And quite honestly, she is not letting it end here. She has promised there is much more to come.

She hinted of making a comeback in the Brussels Diamond League. The Olympian clocked 11.08 to finish just behind Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who finished 1st in 10.76s. And then in the World Championships, we saw the best we’ve seen from her in the entire season. Starting with the heats, she recorded her first win of the season in 11.03s, her new season and her first win over Shericka Jackson in two years. This was followed by another season best in the semifinals. Racing against Shericka Jackson once again, she first made a false start but was luckily given the green card.

When they finally raced, Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith won the semis in 10.94s, followed by Shericka Jackson in 10.97s. Richardson was 3rd with 11.00s, a new season best, but she also had to wait for qualification, which ultimately came, given, she was the 7th fastest. Then, in the finals, she finished 5th (10.94s), but the positives from here are that she finally clocked her first sub-11 of the season, and her performance kept getting better in the last three races. So maybe the Olympic gold medalist had something in store for the rest of the season and for the 2026 season as well.

After a tough season, Sha’Carri Richardson eyes to make a staunch comeback

This year, she made her season debut at the Tokyo Golden Grand Prix, where Sha’Carri Richardson finished 4th in 11.47 seconds. Later, she revealed that she had an injury, and her performances kept getting worse. Following this, she finished at 9th place in 11.19 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic. But then she showed good signs in the 100m prelims of the USATF Championships, clocking her season best of 11.07 for 2nd place. However, she pulled out of the semifinals.

After this was a 6th place finish in the Silsia Diamond League in 11.05. This was followed by the comeback in Brussels and a winning performance in 100m heats at the World Championships. Though she could not defend her 100m World title, she promises more to come.

In fact, as for Richardson, she did make a strong comeback post her Tokyo Olympics withdrawal. And this time too, as she showed improvement in her timings, it is certain that as and when the new season commences, the American once again might chant the same mantra she asserted two years back, “I’m not back. I’m better.”

Last year too, before flying to Paris for Olympics, she told Vogue, “I don’t just mean I’m a better runner. It’s beyond that. I’m better at being Sha’Carri. I’m better at being myself.”

Let’s hope she puts whatever happened until now in the back and hopefully we see the old Sha’Carri Richardson back on track.