Julien Alfred upsets Sha’Carri Richardson to win Olympic 100

PARIS — This was supposed to be Sha’carri Richardson’s big moment.

After testing positive for marijuana and missing out on the Olympics three years ago, the American sprinter was supposed to earn redemption with gold in the women’s 100 meters at the 2024 Summer Games.

Then came a sudden downpour. A slick track. A slow start.

All of it proved too much for Richardson to overcome on a Saturday night at the Stade de France when Julien Alfred ran a courageous race to win in 10.72 and give the tiny island of Saint Lucia its first ever medal of any color.

“I’m going to start crying,” Alfred said. “It means a lot to me, my coach, my country, which I’m sure is celebrating now.”

How did Richardson feel about finishing second, just ahead of teammate and bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson?

Hurrying past reporters in the mixed zone, she smiled and said, “Thank you, thank you, have a blessed evening.” Then she left the stadium without attending the medalists’ news conference.

The loss broke a winning streak that had included two golds and a bronze at the 2023 world championships and the fastest 100 time in the world this year.

During that span, Richardson became something of a crossover star, known for her flamboyant clothes, long nails and colorful, ever-evolving hairstyles inspired by the late Florence Griffith Joyner. People also took to the story of her sometimes turbulent life.

Raised by her grandmother and an aunt, the 24-year-old Texan suffered a major setback around the time of the 2021 U.S. Olympic track trials in Eugene, Ore., when a reporter broke the news that her biological mother had died. She has said she dealt with the pain by turning to marijuana.

The incident made her seem even more relatable to some fans, especially those who were angry that her positive test resulted in disqualification from Tokyo. The punishment seemed severe for a substance that does not enhance performance and was legal in Oregon where she was tested.

Richardson did not appear to harbor any bitterness.

“I feel every chapter I’ve been through in my life prepared me for this moment,” she recently said, talking about “the hard work I put in, not just physically but mentally and emotionally, to grow into the mature young lady I am today.”

That maturity — or, more specifically, the resilience needed to deal with hardship — served her well on the track, fueling a determination that lifted her to the top of the world rankings this year.

In Paris, she looked relaxed if not particularly sharp through the preliminary rounds. Fate seemed to point toward an impending victory if only because two of her biggest rivals, both Jamaicans, were not in the field.

Defending gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah suffered an Achilles tendon injury earlier this season and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, in her fourth Games at 37, withdrew shortly before the semifinal.

But at an Olympics marked by severe weather in all directions, that storm blew over the city just before the finals, growing stronger by the minute. Richardson fell behind early and, over the course of 10 seconds, could not summon the sort of finish that had won for her in the past.

The conditions did not seem to bother Jefferson, who expressed happiness about earning bronze at her first Games, saying “I can’t complain about that.” Alfred had a similar response to the rain.

“You’ve got to be prepared for anything at all,” she said. “It didn’t have any effect on me.”

The gold medalist acknowledged struggling with confidence in the past but said that her coach had pulled her through with a steady, consistent stream of praise.

When she got out of bed at 5 a.m. on Saturday — “I usually wake up so early in the morning on race days” — she wrote the words “Julien Alfred, Olympic champion” in her journal. Then she posted a selfie on social media with the same inscription.

It turned out that the women’s 100 meters in Paris was, in fact, somebody’s big moment. It was hers.