Sha'Carri Richardson wins the 100m at the US Championships (© Getty Images)
Sha’Carri Richardson delivered a dazzling 10.82 victory in the women’s 100m at the US Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene on Friday (7), while Cravont Charleston was a surprise winner of the men’s sprint title.
Richardson equalled the meeting record in the heats, cruising to a PB of 10.71. She almost matched that in the semifinals with 10.75 (0.1m/s).
Right as the camera settled on her at the start line for the final, Richardson ripped off her orange wig and revealed braids. The crowd went wild. Once the race got underway, no one could chase her down and she won in 10.82 (0.7m/s)
Brittany Brown, the 2019 world 200m silver medallist, finished second in a PB of 10.90 and Tamari Davis was third in 10.99. All three podium finishers will be representing the USA for the first time over 100m at a World Championships.
“If you had told me when I was in high school or college that I would be making the US 100m team, I would’ve never believed you,” Brown said. “But I’m multifaceted. If I put my mind to something, I can probably do it.”
Richardson looked on with a fiery stare during her victory lap, and Hayward’s crowd got on their feet and cheered for her in a wave as she passed. She stopped to climb into the stands and hug her family. In her last few moments on the track, she jumped and waved at the crowd with a smile before descending underneath, her attention now focused on the 200m at these championships.
While Richardson was the overwhelming favourite to take the women’s 100m title, few would have predicted the winner of the men’s 100m title.
Charleston, who was eliminated in the semifinals at the national championships last year, had improved to 9.90 last month, but he was up against the likes of 2019 world champion Christian Coleman and two-time world 200m champion Noah Lyles.
Charleston won his heat but was second in his semifinal to Lyles, who won by 0.02 in a season’s best of 9.94.
In the final, however, the verdict went Charleston’s way as he delivered a surprising – but welcome – triumph in a competitive field, winning in 9.95 (0.1m/s) from Coleman (9.96) and Lyles (10.00).
“I had no idea I won. I was like, ‘Shoot, I got fourth’,” Charleston said, laughing. “Then I looked up at the board. And I said, ‘First? Well, I got the job done’.”
Lyles revealed on Thursday (6), the first day of competition, that he contracted Covid two weeks ago following the USATF NY Grand Prix Meeting.
“I wanted it to be a lot faster, but since I’m coming off of being sick, I really couldn’t ask for more,” Lyles said.
Hall and Cunningham retain titles
World bronze medallist Anna Hall successfully defended her national heptathlon title on Friday, finishing with a final score of 6677. Taaliyah Brooks finished second with 6319.
Hall said there’s still room to improve before she heads to Budapest.
“My running is what I’m naturally strongest at and my jumps have been strong this year,” said Hall, who scored a world-leading 6988 to win in Götzis in May. “The throws are my weaker area, but we are working on it, so I’m asking everyone to be patient with me.”
World bronze medallist Tori Franklin and two-time Olympian Keturah Orji both opened the women’s triple jump with the same distance (14.32m) and they finished it just one centimetre apart.
Franklin’s second-round effort of 14.44m gave her a slight edge over her domestic rival and she held on to it until the end of the competition. Jasmine Moore, who jumped a US indoor record of 15.12m earlier this year, finished third with 14.19m.
World bronze medallist and Olympic finalist Vashti Cunningham took home her sixth consecutive outdoor national title in the high jump with a 1.91m final height.
In the men’s triple jump, two-time world finalist Donald Scott successfully defended his title to win with 17.22m. Multiple global medallist Will Claye was second with 16.98m.
Sam Mattis reclaimed his national discus title, winning with a fifth-round effort of 65.93m to beat NCAA champion Turner Washington (65.60m).
Elsewhere on the track, Woody Kincaid and Elise Cranny won the 10,000m titles on Thursday night.
Kincaid, the 2019 national champion, fought his way to the front of the pack and won in 28:23.01 with a blazing 54.76-second final lap. 2022 national champion Joe Klecker followed Kincaid in 28:24.50 and Sean McGorty finished third (28:24.96) for the second year in a row.
Cranny thundered past North American record holder Alicia Monson on the backstretch of the final lap and won in 32:12.30 to finish comfortably ahead of Monson (32:17.51).
Madeline Ryan for World Athletics
