When a track legend says, “I think I know where the gold is going,” you know they aren’t just taking a shot in the dark. There must be solid experience and analysis behind a World Championships prediction like this, especially when they have paired it with some serious apprehensions about Sha’Carri Richardson. While this isn’t the first time someone has raised doubts about the reigning world champion, this does feel like a wake-up alarm for the American. Because this track legend is a 4-time Olympic medalist and he’s already starting to smell the coffee…

This track legend is not alone. After Sha’Carri Richardson’s 2025 Prefontaine Classic mishap, where she bagged the ninth place in the 100m, in 11.19s, fans weighed in with comments like, “Melissa Jefferson gone save the USA shacarri gotta get back into sprinting form!!!” It’s quite evident that there might be a new American favorite going into the World Championships. But what’s the reason behind this? A few bad races? Or is something really concerningly wrong about Richardson’s form? Well, the track legend has explained every bit of it!

On July 10, CBC Sports uploaded a YouTube video where hosts Perdita Felicien and Aaron Brown spoke to the Trinidadian Olympian, Ato Boldon. That’s when Boldon was asked to assess if it’s time to hit the panic button on Sha’Carri Richardson or can she still make a comeback, based on her 2025 Prefontaine Classic performance. And here’s what he answered. Boldon explained that it’s normal for the fan sentiment to be like, “You guys always write off our girl, and she always comes through. And there’s lots of time.” But he remarked that those who have a more “critical eye” would feel differently about Richardson. And that would be because….

Ato Boldon went on to explain that Julien Alfred and Melissa Jefferson Wooden are in an entirely different league. “We’re talking mid-10.5s. This is not like, oh, they ran a good race. That is literally one of the best races ever run by a human female, and both of them did it.” And this makes things look worrisome for Sha’Carri Richardson because, “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.” Yes, Boldon called out that the time for making a comeback may have passed!

But Boldon’s afraid that the problem with Sha’Carri Richardson runs way deeper. It’s not just her injury or her form that she has to fix. Boldon further voices a few more things that need fine-tuning. Like, “If Sha’Carri is going to be a world champion or Olympic champion, she has to come out of the blocks better. She is not Bolt. She is not Noah. Can she run a lot of people down? Absolutely. But you’re not running down somebody with a superior 200.” Well, that’s a cold reality check! For the longest time, Richardson’s sluggish starts have been major hurdles that hold her back.

But now, Boldon thinks this might be the time to work on that because in a 100-meter final, athletes like Shericka Jackson, Jefferson-Wooden, and Alfred have better 200s. Until that happens, he believes, “The women, for me, unless I see something completely different between now and mid-September, I think I know where the gold is going. It’s either going to St. Lucia or the US.” There you have it! His prediction is made. And surprisingly, many others, including Sha’Carri Richardson, have agreed on these pointers.

The same problems are plaguing Sha’Carri Richardson’s form

After the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, Sha’Carri Richardson agreed that her starts need work. While reflecting on that one aspect that continues to be a problem, she said, “When it comes to working on my start…” She even agreed that once she was 100%, nothing could stop her but herself. So yes, the reigning world champion, Sha’Carri, still has that ambition. But she has to work on the execution part.

This is something that not just Ato Boldon has pointed out, but practically everyone who saw Sha’Carri Richardson’s Prefontaine race, coupled with her recent few performances. On the Track World News podcast, Colin Waitzman and Noah Williams said that, “It was basically over when it started. She was fighting for last.” So maybe it’s time for Sha’Carri to really take this seriously. Because not one, but multiple people have pointed the same out.