“Her 50m and beyond speed is crazy”- Shannon Sharpe backs Sha'Carri Richardson to run faster than 10.71s which booked her place in Paris Olympics 2024

Former Super Bowl winner Shannon Sharpe was impressed with Sha'Carri Richardson’s 100m run at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials 2024. The world champion won the 100m finals in 10.71s, the fastest in the world clocked by a female athlete this year, but Sharpe claimed she could go even faster.

Richardson entered the U.S. Olympic Trials as the favorite to win the 100m contest. Although her 2024 outdoor season started with back-to-back losses in the 200m, she roared back with a dominant win in the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic 2024.

The world champion ran 10.83s in her 100m season opener, 0.03s faster than the time she won the 2021 US Olympic Trials. The 24-year-old ran 10.88s in the 100m heats at Eugene in the U.S. Olympic Trials and then improved to 10.86s in the semifinals, crossing the finish line first in both races. She won the 100m finals in 10.71s, the fastest any woman has run in 2024.

However, Sha'Carri Richardson didn't get her usual brisk start in all three races, and three-time Super Bowl winner Shannon Sharpe believes she can clock low 10.6s if she gets her start right. He congratulated her and her teammates Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry for qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024 and wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

"Congrats 2 Sha’Carri Richardson on winning women’s 100 meters Nationals. With a better start and Sha’Carri can run sub 10.6. Her 50 meter and beyond speed is crazy. Congrats 2 Melissa Jefferson and TT Terry as well..We got something 4 them Jamaican women again"

Melissa Jefferson finished 2nd in 10.80s while Twanisha Terry ran 10.89s for third place. All three women are training partners and share the same coach as well.

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Unlike today, Shannon Sharpe didn't support Sha'Carri Richardson after the 2021 doping drama

2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field - Day 2

Sha'Carri Richardson was all set to represent America at the Tokyo Olympics after winning the 100m trials in 2021. However, she tested positive for THC, a chemical found in cannabis, and was stripped of her victory at the trials as well as the ticket to the Olympics.

While Richardson accepted the one-month ban she was awarded, several people argued that the 24-year-old should have been allowed to compete at the Olympics because of her ‘popularity and ratings’. Shanon Sharpe wasn't one of them.

He wrote on X earlier in 2022:

"She could’ve competed. She didn’t qualify to compete. Stop the bulljive antics, train hard. Sports aren’t sympathetic. You do or you don’t"

Nonetheless, Sha'Carri Richardson’s dream is only a month away now. She will also be trying to book a spot in the women's 200m team but it is going to be a bit tougher than 100m.