Source: Patrick Smith / Getty
Look out Tokyo, Sha’Carri Richardson is coming and plans on leaving with the gold.
The late great Olympic Gold medalist Florence Griffith Joyner scorched the 1988 Seoul, Korea Olympic track with style and grace in the women’s 100 meters setting a record time of 10.62 that still stands till this day. Joyner not only ensconced her name in Olympic history because of her speed but also because her swag that dripped femininity stepped into the starting blocks with her hair, nails and one could only guess her feet done, Flo Jo looked like a supermodel as she made her opponents eat her dust, but more importantly from that day forth women found that looking good for the track and field stage was a good thing.
In 1996, Gail Devers, a smaller version of Flo Jo, brought similar style and heat to the summer Olympics held in Atlanta, her 10.94 time, 100m win, made her only the second woman to successfully defend an Olympic 100m title and the last time the women’s team America has brought home the gold in this event.
But at some point in time history repeats itself and according to the 21-year-old Dallas native, she’s that girl after dominating her first Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon winning the women’s 100m finals with a time of 10.86.
Richardson turned pro after her freshman year at LSU and has become a household name quickly as she is the second-fastest woman in the world. However unbeknownst to most Sa’Carri Richardson stepped into the blocks Sunday competing for a spot in this years summer Olympic in Tokyo with the style of her predecessors, the motivation of those who told her she was too small along with blessings from her biological mother who is now watching Richardson from above after passing away just last week.
“And the fact that nobody knows what I go through. Everybody has struggles and I understand that, but y’all see me on this track and y’all see the poker face I put on. But nobody but them and my coach know what I go through on a day-to-day basis.
“And I’ll highly grateful to them. Without them, there would be no me. without my grandmother, there would be no Sha’carri Richardson. So my family is my everything. My everything until the day I’m done.”
Richardson is also entered in the 200m, which starts Thursday, June 24.
Take a look at Richardson’s winning the women’s 100m finals race, qualifying her for the Olympics below.
Flo Jo 2.0: Sha’Carri Richardson Is Headed To The Tokyo Olympics [VIDEO] was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
