"I'm not one of those athletes that just does one event"- Sha'Carri Richardson sets sights on 100m & 200m Olympic team despite Diamond League loss

American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson recently talked about her Olympic dreams on making it to the USA team in both 100m and 200m disciplines ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024.

Richardson opened her 2024 season at the Xiamen Diamond League 2024 where she clocked a time of 22.99s to finish second in the 200m. She was just 0.03 seconds behind 19-year-old Torrie Lewis from Australia who clocked 22.96s to win the race.

After her second-place finish on her season opener at the first Diamond League meeting of the year, she discussed in an interview (via Citius Mag) how she is different from the other athletes who just restrict themselves by participating in a single event.

Sha'Carri Richardson mentioned that she wanted to be a part of the USA team in both 100m and 200m sprint disciplines, stating:

“I definitely want to make the team in both. I'm not one of those athletes that just do one event.”

Moreover, she stated how she felt about her season opener in the interview, adding:

“It felt really good about it being the season opener, kind of late for me in this season to open up. I was a little nervous. But once I got on the track it felt like home, so I felt really good with this first performance.”

She also added:

"I know what I need to work on. Me and my coach, I'm pretty sure by the time I get back to the warm up area, he's already formulating on how to get better for the next race, so I'm excited for my next meet."

In the 2023 season, Sha'Carri Richardson took the world by storm by winning two gold medals at the World Athletics Championships 2023 held in Budapest. There, she bagged gold in the 100m, and 4x100m relay event, and a bronze in the 200m event.

Sha'Carri Richardson missed spot on U.S. squad for Tokyo Olympics 2020

Sha'Carri Richardson in the Women's 100m of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials

Sha'Carri Richardson missed out on a place in the USA 100m squad for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Despite qualifying for the Olympics after finishing first in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials 2021 with an impressive 10.86 in the 100m final, she received a one-month suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). This came after a positive test due to a chemical found in marijuana.

This shattered her dreams of competing in her first Olympic Games in Tokyo. However, she is considered one of the prime contenders to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024 across multiple sprint disciplines.