Sha’Carri Richardson is an Olympic gold medalist.
The former track star at Carter High School in Dallas ran the anchor leg for the United States team that won the rainy 4×100 meter relay on Friday at the Paris Olympics with a time of 41.78 seconds, earning her second medal of the Games. She won the silver medal in the 100-meter race on Saturday.
Richardson, 24, overcame runners from Britain and Germany, good for a .07-second win over Britain, which struggled with two baton changes in the rain.
Gabby Thomas ran the third leg and got her second gold of the Games, this one going with the 200-meter title. Twanisha Terry and 100 bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson rounded out the team. The exchange between Terry and Thomas that nearly wrecked the Americans in qualifying was better this time.
Still, when Thomas handed off to Richardson, the U.S. was in third.
Richardson had to reel in Daryll Neita (Britain) and Rebekka Haase (Germany), and when she did, she flashed a look to her right — and backward — that said ″you’re not catching me.”
She sprinted eight more steps down the track, and on her ninth, lifted her left leg high and stomped it on the other side of the finish line, then let out a scream.
It marked a sweet close to the Olympics for Richardson, who came into the Olympics as a favorite but surprisingly fell to Julien Alfred of St. Lucia in the 100-meter race.
The Associated Press contributed to this post.
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