EUGENE, Ore. — Sha’Carri Richardson acquired handed on the surface down the stretch and completed fourth within the 200-meter last at U.S. observe trials Saturday, that means she’ll solely have one likelihood for a person Olympic gold medal subsequent month in Paris.
Gabby Thomas received the race in 21.81 seconds for her second straight nationwide title. Richardson was within the prime three on this, her second-best distance, with about 40 meters left, however Brittany Brown and McKenzie Lengthy handed her and pulled away.
Richardson completed in 22.16 seconds, her slowest of three races via the rounds within the 200.
The 27-year-old Thomas, who determined to not run the 400 meters at trials so she may focus solely on the 200, her greatest race, will look so as to add to the bronze medal she received within the occasion three years in the past in Tokyo.
“I knew I wanted to get in the present day performed, and it is a first step,” Thomas mentioned. “There was no gold medal in Paris with out getting the job performed in the present day, so I am simply ecstatic to be alongside these wonderful, unbelievable ladies.”
Richardson will nonetheless have the 100 — the place she’ll go in as a favourite and because the reigning world champion — together with a spot on the ladies’s 4×100 relay staff.
Richardson clapped her fingers and blew a kiss to the group earlier than exiting the tunnel rapidly after a race that has by no means been her greatest, however wherein she was extensively seen as a top-three candidate. She received the bronze medal at worlds final yr within the 200.
In contrast to Thomas, she ran three rounds final week within the 100, which may take each a bodily and psychological toll. In contrast to Thomas, she was additionally coping with a warning for a lane violation from Friday’s semifinal, that means if she did it once more, she’d be disqualified.
Richardson wobbled barely in the beginning, a la her burst from the block within the opening spherical of the 100 final week, however dealt with the curve effectively and was neck and neck for third with Tamara Clark, 4 lanes to her left, as they hit the straightaway.
The difficulty, nevertheless, got here from her proper. Brown completed in 21.90, a private greatest, and Lengthy was .01 behind her, with a large hole left earlier than Richardson crossed.
Thomas has by no means misplaced to Richardson in a 200. Her largest problem in Paris figures to return from Jamaican Shericka Jackson, who ran 21.41 ultimately yr’s world championships — the second-fastest time in historical past. Jackson received her preliminary spherical at Jamaica’s nationals Saturday.