"We haven't seen the full potential of Sha'Carri Richardson" - Rodney Green and Justin Gatlin back the American despite her struggles in 2024

Former sprinters Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green recently expressed their support for American 100m World Champion Sha'Carri Richardson, asserting that fans have yet to see her full potential. Richardson won two medals at this year's Paris Olympics.

Following her disqualification from the Tokyo Olympics due to a positive cannabis test, Richardson competed in her first Olympic event this year in Paris. As the reigning World Champion in the 100m event, Richardson was considered a top contender for the gold medal. However, she finished second, clocking in at 10.87 seconds, just behind St. Lucia's Julien Alfred, who won gold with a time of 10.72 seconds. Nevertheless, Richardson played a crucial role in the USA's women's 4x100m relay victory, receiving the baton in third place and overtaking the French team to secure the gold medal.

Before concluding her 2024 season, the 24-year-old faced a major setback at the Diamond League finals in Brussels, where she ran her slowest race and finished in last place. This was followed by a withdrawal from the 200-meter event at the competition.

Despite her mixed season and two major losses, Justin Gatlin has expressed confidence in Sha'Carri Richardson's ability to redeem herself against Julien Alfred in future races. Rodney Green has also shown support for Richardson's potential for improvement, noting that she has previously run faster than Alfred's gold-winning time at the Paris Games.

"With a coach like Flo (Edrick Floreal, Alfred's coach), Flo don't like to lose but the same thing over there in the Claremont camp at Star Athletics, you got the silver medalist (Richardson) and the bronze medalist (Melissa Jefferson) who train together so now whatever things theu left on the table in the 2024 season now they have the opportunity to get back out there and make things happen," Gatlin said (via Ready Set Go podcast with Justin Gatlin) [29:26 onwards]

"I still think we haven't seen the full potential of Sha'Carri Richardson. I mean even being that Julien Alfred ran 10.72, we've seen Sha'Carri run times that are faster than that whether it be her slowing down or waving hands," Green said [30:07 onwards]

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"I literally was blowing out girls" - When Sha'Carri Richardson discussed her transition from the 200m to the 100m

Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 14 (Image via Getty)

Sha'Carri Richardson once revealed that she was only a 200m runner during her middle school days. Her significant success in the 200m event, often defeating competitors by 75 to 100 meters, led her to realize her potential in the 100m.

"I think it was probably in middle school when I realized I would actually run a 200, I didn't necessarily run the 100. I didn't start running the 100 until I got into high school and the 200, I literally was blowing out girls like by 75 meters, a 100 meters, literally like blowing them out. I was like maybe this is for me," she said (via The New Yorker YouTube channel). [5:50 onwards]

Richardson currently boasts two world championship titles along with a bronze in the 200m event.