Sha’Carri Richardson is finally showing some form after a poor season. She started with a fourth-place clocking in 11.47 at the Tokyo Golden Grand Prix and followed it up with a 9th place in 11.19 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. While she did look good at the USATF Championships, with a season-best time in the 100m prelims of 11.07, her season was cut short again when she pulled out of the semifinals and subsequently failed to make it into the 200m final following a time of 22.56. But before the World Championships was a minor comeback in Brussels, where she finished second to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden with a time of 11.08. But the world championships themselves?

In Tokyo, Richardson finally won. Though during her 100m heat, she yet again had another poor start, but then maintained her calm as Shericka Jackson flew the start in lane 5. But in the final meters, Richardson closed the gap, accelerated past Jackson, and edged her out by one-tenth of a second, winning the race in her new season best of 11.03 seconds. But does that mean trouble is over? Julien Alfred, Darryl Neita, and many others would deny.

Julien Alfred showed the world today how to run a sub-11 very comfortably. The 100m Olympic gold medalist very easily won her heat in the Tokyo World Championships, clocking 10.93. Not only was she jogging towards the end of her race, but this was the only sub-11 of the heat as well. Salome Kora of Switzerland was 2nd in 11.23s, and Audrey Leduc of Canada came third in 11.26s. The Saint Lucian has broken the American’s heart once before, and chances are highly likely that she will do it again because Sha’Carri has not clocked a sub-11 this entire season.

And then there is Darryl Neita, another sprinter who can be big trouble for Richardson because she has also recorded a sub-11 in her heat today. The British track and field athlete ran a season best of 10.94 seconds. She beat TeeTee Terry, who ran 11.06s, and Thelma Davies 🇱🇷 in 11.12s. Now, how can we forget Sha’Carri Richardson’s compatriot and training partner, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden? She is the top contender for the 100m world championships this year. And how did she do?

She clocked two sub-10.70s this season (10.66 at the Silesia Diamond League and 10.65 at the USATF Outdoor Championships), something that the 100m World Champion has only done once in her career. Then she is also the only woman to have defeated Julien Alfred this season, the very same woman who crushed Richardson’s Olympic dreams. At the Prefontaine Classic, Melissa won in 10.75, while Julien ran 10.77

On top of that, to this date in the 2025 season, she has not faced a single defeat in the 100m. Today in the heats, Jefferson-Wooden was controlled and easily recorded 10.99s, making it look like a training run, another time that is faster than Sha’Carri Richardson’s in the heat. Even though Tina Clayton was ahead of her in her heat by two hundredths of a second, she clocked 11.01s.

So yeah, things do look troubling for the Olympic gold medalist, given that all the big names for the 100m title are running faster than her. What makes it worse is that not only would she not be able to defend her title, but she might also win no medal at the championships. This was not the case in the last world championships for these women.

Julien Alfred, Darryl Neita, & others were way behind Sha’Carri Richardson in 2023

During the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, the landscape for all these women was completely different. Richardson clocked her only sub-10.70 in the 100m finals (10.65) to win the gold medal ahead of Shericka Jackson (10.72s) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.77). In that very race, Julien Alfred was fifth with a time of 10.93s.

In the 200m finals also she was also behind Sha’Carri (21.92-  3rd), finishing 4th in 22.05s. Darrly Netia was just behind with 22.16s. However, the British sprinter was nowhere to be seen in the 100m finals because she was eliminated in the Semifinals, finishing fourth with a time of 11.03s. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden was nowhere to be seen because the fastest woman of the 2025 season could not qualify.

She clocked 11.03 in the 100m finals of the USATF Championships, taking the 5th place. Sha’Carri Richardson won that race in 10.82. It’s almost crazy how things have changed today. But that is track and field for you. Let us know what you think of Sha’Carri’s performance. She did beat Shericka, but was she fast enough? Also, what do you think, can she get a medal this time?