Sha’Carri Richardson ran the fastest women’s 100m time of the year on Thursday at the US Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The 23-year-old finished the opening heat with a world-leading time of 10.71 seconds as she boosted her chances of qualifying for next month’s World Championships in Budapest.
The time was also a personal best for Richardson. In April, the American had clocked 10.57 secs in the 100m, which was the fourth fastest time in history, at the Miramar Invitational but it was deemed to be wind aided so was ineligible for records.
Her strong performance Thursday, finishing 0.25 secs ahead of second-placed Brittany Brown, qualifies her for Friday’s semifinals.
Richardson’s time beat the world lead of 10.75 secs set by Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast at the Oslo Diamond League last month.
In 2021, Richardson had been expected to be one of the biggest draws at the Tokyo Olympic Games after winning the women’s 100 meters at the US trials, but was barred from competing after accepting a one-month ban for her positive test for cannabis. She later said her action was the result of mourning the death of her mother.
She failed to qualify for last year’s World Championships but looks set to make up for that at this year’s edition – which would be her first global event – with a strong performance at the US Championships which are trials for the World Championships.
Elsewhere, Christian Coleman put in a strong performance in the men’s 100m, running 9.95 seconds in his heat.
The 2019 world champion, who missed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after breaching a “whereabouts failure” rule, clocked the fastest time overall in the men’s 100m at the championships.