Whether it be ripping off her orange wig seconds before running away with the national title in the 100m, coming back from a suspension to win a world title or being the face of a luxury fashion collaboration, Sha’Carri Richardson is no stranger to making headlines.
But before setting the global track stage alight, Richardson was an up-and-coming sprinter at Carter High School in Dallas.
Here’s a comprehensive timeline of Richardson’s rise to stardom, with the U.S. track and field trials this weekend and the 2024 Paris Olympics starting July 26.
May 2016: Showing out at state meet
As a Carter sophomore, Richardson won the Class 4A 100-meter final in 11:58 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
Richardson commented on her performance at the time, “Competition is everywhere, and I just try to beat everybody with my times.” Adding, “I don’t go against people, I go against myself every time I hit the track.”
She would go on to get second in the 200-meter and lead Carter to second place finish at the 2016 Class 4A UIL state championships.
May 2017: Dallas Morning News all-area track athlete of the year
Following up on her breakout 2016 year, Richardson broke the UIL 4A record in the 100 with an 11:28. The Dallas Carter standout would go on to win the 200 in the 2017 UIL meet and was part of a 4x100 team that won gold in a 4A record time of 45.96.
Richardson’s head track coach, Lauren Cross, was bullish about her future abilities, predicting she would run in the Olympics.
“I already have my passport,” Cross said of her plans to watch Richardson, then a high school junior, on the global stage.
“She has a lot of natural talent and works really hard,” Cross said.
November 2017: Commitment to LSU
Richardson announced that she was signing with LSU ahead of her senior track season at Dallas Carter.
Her final choices came down to LSU, Florida and Texas Tech before she decided to head to Baton Rouge.
A recurring theme with Richardson was her forecasting an Olympic future. When asked about her decision to sign with the Tigers, she said, “I feel like this is the best step that I should take to become an athlete in the Olympics.”
Carter state champion sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson announces that she will be signing with LSU. @SportsDayHS pic.twitter.com/4G1Mt1JpKL
— Greg Riddle (@DMNGregRiddle) November 8, 2017
June 2019: College record broken
Richardson started her collegiate career just the way she ended high school — on fire.
As a freshman, Richardson broke the collegiate record with a 10.75 in the women’s 100-meter dash, winning in 10.75 seconds at the 2019 NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Austin. It was also the best in the world at the time in 2019 and an under-20 world record.
Richardson placed second in the 200 meters at the 2017 NCAA meet on the same day, which made the Dallas native the first woman to run under 10.80 in the 100 and under 22.20 in the 200 on the same day.
Just four days after Richardson’s incredible performance at the 2019 NCAA championships, she announced her decision to forego her remaining NCAA eligibility and sign a professional contract.
She had a modest start to her professional career at the 2019 Prefontaine Classic and the 2019 U.S. outdoor track championships, where she placed fourth and eighth in the 100m, respectively.
June 2021: Dream come true
Richardson took her career to new heights in at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, which were rescheduled to July 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She shocked the track and field world when she won the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.86 seconds, handily beating the rest of America’s best sprinters.
With the win, she achieved her goal of qualifying for the 2020 Summer Games.
July 2021: Dream deferred
But Richardson’s Olympic dreams were put on hold after the urine sample she submitted at the trials tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
The Dallas native accepted a one-month competition ban that disqualified her individual entry for the U.S. team, and USA Track and Field declined to break its trials-based qualifying protocol to add Richardson to the 4x100-meter relay team.
In a TV interview with NBC, Richardson explained that she had used marijuana to cope with the death of her biological mother and the pressures of the sport.
Sha’Carri Richardson (@itskerrii) joins us live for an exclusive interview to discuss the positive marijuana test that’s put her Olympic future in limbo. pic.twitter.com/iVBp3zhvja
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 2, 2021
August 2021: Back of the pack
After serving her competition ban, Richardson returned to the sprint stage at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic. She finished dead last in the 100 meters, running a time of 11.14 seconds.
July 2023: ‘I’m not back, I’m better’
Richardson roared back to prominence in 2023, running a 10.75 in her season opener in a small meet in Miramar, Fla., in April and winning the 100m in the Doha Diamond League the next month.
Both early-season performances foreshadowed what happened at the U.S. championships in Oregon last July, when she won the U.S. title in the 100 meters in 10.82 seconds.
The win booked her ticket to the World Track and Field Championships later that summer in Budapest, Hungary. Shortly after the race, Richardson announced to the world, “I’m not back, I’m better.”
August 2023: Fastest woman in the world
At the 2024 World Championships in Budapest, Richardson faced off with recent Olympic medalists from Jamaica: Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah, the trio that blew her away in her initial return to competition at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic.
This time would prove to be different. Richardson won the gold medal in the 100 meters with a championship record time of 10.65 seconds. She then finished second in the 200 meters to Jackson and helped the U.S. win the 4x100 meter relay. Not bad for your first appearance at a global championship.
November 2023: Dallas ISD honor
Richardson was honored by her former school district, which renamed the track at Kincaide Stadium to the Sha’Carri Richardson Track. She was flanked by members of the Carter track team as she spoke to reporters about what the honor meant to her.
“I am really speechless,” Richardson said. “Life is full circle, and this is one of those full-circle moments, being able to stand in the stadium, in my hometown, where I basically started my career as a track athlete and my city showing me love and support. I love the city, and I’m excited to continue to inspire my city because Dallas is the best.”
May 2024: Prefontaine Classic victory
How does one follow up one of the most successful track seasons in the world? With a win, of course.
At the 2024 Prefontaine Classic, Richardson ran a winning time of 10.83 seconds in the 100 meters. The race marked her domestic debut for the 2024 season after a second-place finish in the 100 meters at the Xiamen Diamond League.
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