Sha’Carri Richardson runs fastest 100m time of the year in Florida

Over the weekend, prolific U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson opened her 2023 season in sensational fashion at the Miramar Invitational in Miramar, Fla. Richardson ran to the fastest women’s 100m time in the world this year, clocking a wind-aided mark of 10.57 seconds (+4.1 m/s).

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What a stunning run from Sha'Carri Richardson who lays down a huge marker in April with a time of 10.57 (4.1m/s) to win the Miramar Invitational 🔥🇺🇸

That converts to 10.77 with a legal wind 💥#WorldContinentalTour pic.twitter.com/7rSUZBH94i

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 8, 2023

Her time, without factoring in the wind component, marked the third-fastest 100m ever, behind two-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah’s 10.54 and world-record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 10.49.

Richardson’s time was aided by twice the legal limit of +2.0 m/s, which is equivalent to around 7.2 kilometres per hour, or a light breeze. A wind gauge, or anemometer, is used to measure the wind speed during the race, and if the wind is higher than +2.0, the result becomes ineligible for records or seeding times.

The last two years have been rocky for the 23-year-old sprinter, who was booted off an American Airlines flight in January. Last summer, she bowed out of the women’s 100m and 200m at the USATF Track and Field Championships in the prelims, missing out on a Team USA spot for the 2022 World Athletics Championships.

In 2021, Richardson made headlines for winning the women’s 100m at the U.S Olympic Trials with a time of 10.86, but was later suspended for one month by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for marijuana. The suspension ruled her out of competing at the Tokyo Olympics.

With Richardson running fast this early in the season, it will be interesting to see her race the Jamaican trio of Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson when the 2023 Diamond League season starts in May.