Sha’Carri Richardson isn’t just back, she's better

SharsquoCarri Richardson undeniably stands out as the most captivating enthralling and captivating sprinter since the era of the fastest man on earth Usain Bolt The global audience might not have fully realized this fact yet Its not just due to the fact that the 23yearold possesses remarkable speed akin to a sonic boom ndash as evidenced by her recent 1065second 100m sprint surpassing ShellyAnn FraserPryces previous record by 002 secondsYet its not just her athletic prowess that sets her apart its the entirety of her being Her appearance Her personal journey Her demeanor And indeed even the challenges she carries She clinched a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships triumphing in the most significant 100meter raceShe left her competitors Shericka Jackson and the fivetime world champion ShellyAnn FraserPryce trailing far behind marking the culmination of a twoyearlong comeback journey She wholeheartedly embodied the mantra she has echoed throughout the year ndash a mantra she reiterated once more following her recent triumph Im not back Im better With this achievement under her belt she now stands just one race away from securing a double victory in BudapestIt has been six years since an American woman won a 100m world title As reported by news agency Associated Press AP Richardson joined fellow American Noah Lyles as 2023 100meter world champions Lyles clinched the top honours in the mens 100 meters in Sundays final It is the first time Americans have swept the 100meter world titles since 2017 when Tori Bowie and Justin Gatlin both topped the podium in the event in LondonFor Richardson it has been some journey From being abandoned by her mother to trying to take her own life during high school she has charted his own path to glory having never shied away from talking about her mental health struggles It has made her many successes ndash including several college titles and junior world records ndash further more impressiveNearly two summers ago soon after the Olympic trials in Oregon Richardsonrsquos road to Tokyo was clogged by a positive test for marijuana Her name turned into a litmus test in a wideranging debate about race fairness the oftenimpenetrable antidoping rulebook and ultimately about the sometimes the thin line between lsquorightrsquo and lsquowrongrsquo as AP reportedBut she soaked it all in surrounded herself with supporters and never gave up ldquoI would say lsquonever give uprsquordquo she told the Associated Press ldquoNever allow media never allow outsiders never allow anything but yourself and your faith define who you are I would say lsquoAlways fight No matter what fightrsquordquo For this victory in a field featuring four of the eight fastest sprinters in history she fought Just how she always hasShe did not surrender when the vagaries of the antidoping rulebook placed her in the socalled lsquoSemifinal of Deathrsquo paired against Jackson and MarieJoseacutee Ta Lou who came in ranked fifth and eighth alltime respectively in a race that guaranteed final berths only to the top two finishersThere she got off to a wretched start and had to rally from seventh to finish third in 1084 seconds She progressed to the final after her time was the fastest among all nonqualifiers A mere 70 minutes later she was lining up on the edge of the track in Lane 9 for the goldmedal raceAlso Read Future not as bleak as you might thinkIt simply made no difference Even though she registered the thirdslowest start nobody got too far ahead In the end it was a race between her and Jackson The same Jackson she went up against on Tuesday Jackson crossed and unable to track what Richardson was doing so far on the outside looked up to the scoreboard as though she might have won But Richardson beat her by 007 seconds FraserPryce by 012 and Ta Lou by 016The new champion looked stunned after she crossed the finish line Having blown a kiss toward the sky she cast her eyes on the scoreboard and walked toward the stands in a daze to pay respects to the American flag as FraserPryce Dina AsherSmith of Britain and others rushed to congratulateldquoAll the heavy hitters were going to bring their lsquoArsquo game so it helped me pull out my best lsquoArsquo game as wellrdquo Richardson told AP ldquoIrsquom next to living legends It feels remarkablerdquoHer makeover has drawn uncanny comparisons with the 100m world record holder FlorenceGriffith Joyner but who does she look up to No it is not Joyner It is Boltrsquos journey from the confines of track and field to a global superhero that she mostly looks to emulateRichardson whose first name is pronounced shaKERRY firmly believes that embracing her authentic self contributes to her enhanced speed Her relatively modest stature standing at 5 feet 1 inch has compelled sports pundits to reevaluate their fixation on taller sprintersShe was primed to become Americarsquos next sprint star when with her orange hair flowing behind her she cruised to a win at trials two years ago But that victory quickly came off the books For months she had spiralled downward both off the track and on It was evident from her ninthplace finish in her muchhyped return from suspension at the Prefontaine Classic in 2021 Last year she didnrsquot make it to the World Championship teamldquoA year ago she was in nomanrsquos land as far as not making the teamrdquo her agent former hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah told AP ldquoAnd then to come back and finally find her happy place which is on the track and to not try to compete with any kind of negative influences out there I personally told her lsquoYoursquoll never win that battle on your best dayrsquordquoWhen asked after her biggest victory and what exactly she fixed between these years she mentioned no word about technique speed or tacticsldquoYou bring who you are onto the track You bring your athlete into your liferdquo said Richardson ldquoJust knowing that people know me not just as an athlete but as a person There is no separate honestly ldquoSo Irsquom glad I can display who I really am Not my pain Not my sadness Irsquom happy I can sit here and be happy with home and just knowing that it all paid offrdquo