Sha'Carri Richardson anchors USA women to 4x100 gold medal at Paris Olympics
Historically, the U.S. women are the best bet for gold in the 4X100 sprint relay. But after winning silver in Tokyo, they wanted redemption at the Paris Olympics. And they got it, thanks to Sha’Carri Richardson.
On a chilly Friday evening at Stade de France, the U.S. women earned the gold, their 12th time to win the sprint relay since 1932, when Los Angeles hosted the games. The team of Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry, Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson took the gold with a time of 41.78 seconds.
Richardson, in winning her first Olympic gold, dashed past Daryll Neita, the Team Great Britain anchor, for the win.
Sha’Carri Richardson saved Team USA in prelims, too
On paper, Team GB was the biggest threat to the U.S. women. The Brits won one of the two heats in Thursday’s prelims. But in the finals, the Americans beat them by .07. Germany won the bronze.
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And about those prelims. The U.S. women had a difficult time in the opening round. It wasn’t their speed, but the handoffs. The exchange with Sha’Carri Richardson, the silver medalist in the 100, was shaky. But she turned on the jets and made up the deficit on Germany’s Rebekka Haase. The Americans won the heat.
Circling back to the finals, Team GB was the one who needed to overcome bad handoffs. Meanwhile, Jamaica had been the defending gold medalists. In Tokyo, their women’s team featured the entire podium from the 100 meters. But none of those three women competed in the 100 meters earlier this week.
The U.S. men suffered through a far different result. Kenny Bednarek, the silver medalist from the 200 meters, left too early on the second exchange. That slowed the entire relay. Then after the finish, the Americans learned they’d been disqualified. not a good result as the Olympic track competition winds down.