Sha’Carri Richardson Finishes in Last Place in Return to Track As Elaine Thompson-Herah Wins Again

The Tokyo Olympics answered the question of who the fastest woman in the world is. Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica took home three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay and broke Florence Griffith Joyner’s 100m Olympic record in the process. But the one feat she didn’t accomplish in Tokyo was beating American Sha’Carri Richardson. She did just that Saturday. Not only did Thompson-Herah easily win the race, she ran the second fastest 100m race in history. The lingering question in the wake of the women’s 100-meter final at the Tokyo Olympics was how Sha’Carri Richardson’s presence would have altered the outcome. Could America’s fastest woman have broken up Jamaica’s 1-2-3 sweep if she were permitted to run? Might Richardson even have challenged gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah, who came as close to Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record as anyone has in 33 years? Richardson’s underwhelming return to the track at Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic essentially poured a