Sha’Carri Richardson is leaving Paris with two medals after making her Olympic debut in the 2024 Games.
The former LSU track and field star nabbed a silver when she took the second place spot in the 100-meter final on Aug. 3. Days later, on Aug. 9, she helped Team USA, which includes Melissa Jefferson, Gabby Thomas, and Twanisha Terry, clinch a gold medal in the 4×100 relay.
Video of her regaining the team’s No. 1 spot in a qualifying round has been heavily circulated among sports fans. Richardson took on anchor leg duties in both the qualifier and final race. The viral pre-finals footage shows her catch up to Germany’s Rebekka Haase, and then switch into high gear, blowing through the finish line.
The 24-year-old sprinter is the subject of online banter not just for her speed but because of the way she gave Haase a quick glance before leaving her behind.
“She looked her like not you really thought you was faster than me,” a TikTok user wrote when the video was shared to the popular social platform. Other comical assumptions about her thoughts in the moment included, “Girl u thought!” “Girl are you walking,” and “Girl if you don’t get on.”
Another fan said, “My girl is a SAVAGE!!!” Someone also commenting on Richardon’s “turbo sport mode” said, “That look alone tells the story.”
Richard first qualified for the Olympics in 2021, when the Games were held in Tokyo. However, her dreams were deferred when anti-doping test results revealed she had THC in her system when she qualified in the 100 meters. She was suspended from competition for a month and missed the Olympics.
Her performance in Paris has not been without its hiccups, though. Ahead of running 10.87 seconds in the 100 final, she and Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce were prevented from entry into the Stade de France due to an overnight rule change requiring them to arrive at the venue on the team shuttle.
The mixup thwarted chances of the women properly warming up for the competition and ultimately led to Fraser-Pryce’s decision to forgo the event. “Paris wilding for not letting Sha’Carri and Shelly in that gate,” read a criticism of the fiasco. Neither Richardson not her competitor have provided public comments about the rule change.
