USA Track & Field Championships 2025: Sha’Carri Richardson advances to 100m semi-finals in just third race of season

 

USA Track & Field Championships 2025: Sha’Carri Richardson safely into 100m semi-finals; Jacious Sears clocks fastest 1st round

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Twanisha Terry and Gabby Thomas all advanced on Thursday (31 July), as well. Richardson was racing for just the third time in 2025.

 

Sha’Carri Richardson was back at Hayward Field in Eugene

Picture by 2025 Getty Images

By Nick McCarvel

01 August 2025 01:20 GMT+1

4 min read

Sha’Carri Richardson showed signs of her old self on Thursday (31 July) in Eugene, Oregon.

 

The track superstar and reigning 100m world champion clocked a season’s best 11.07 in first-round action at the USA Track & Field Championships 2025 at the iconic Hayward Field, booking herself into Friday’s semi-finals.

 

Richardson, who has only raced twice this year, was second in the first of four heats of sprinters. She was a tad slow out of the blocks and came out of the centre of her lane midway through, but nonetheless found her top gear to move on.

 

“It felt amazing,” a smiling Richardson told reporters after her race. “Being able to compete, feeling healthy, going out there and executing no matter what [and] just being the best athlete I can be… just to run a qualifying round, show fitness and take the rest of the time to get ready for Tokyo.”

 

Richardson, 25, already has a bye into Tokyo, which will host the World Athletics Championships in September, as the aforementioned reigning world champ in that event from 2023.

 

Her mentality on Thursday afternoon?

 

“Run fast, go straight,’ pretty much,” an enthused Richardson said.

 

Her training mates and fellow Paris 2024 Olympians Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (10.86) and Twanisha Terry (10.89) also advanced, with Jefferson-Wooden finishing only behind Jacious Sears for the fasest time of the day at 10.85.

 

Jefferson-Wooden continues her standout year, her 10.73 from Grand Slam Track Philadelphia in May still the world lead.

 

Aleia Hobbs and Gabby Thomas, the reigning Olympic champion in the 200m, also advanced, as did Kayla White, who won Richardson’s heat in 10.89.

 

 

 

Sha’Carri Richardson on Worlds: “I like to be a secret weapon”

An unspecified injury set Richardson’s season preparations back in February. She opened her 2025 at the Golden Grand Prix in May, held in the same venue that will host Worlds, the Tokyo National Stadium.

 

She was fourth there (11.47), and then didn’t compete again in until the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in early July, where she faltered to ninth (11.19) in a race that saw Jefferson-Wooden just edge out Olympic champion Julien Alfred.

 

Is she flying under the radar ahead of her title defence at Worlds?

 

“I think so,” Richardson said. “I like to be a secret weapon. So right now, I’m kind of just cruising under the radar, but when it’s time to hit, it’s gonna be a bang when y’all see my name.”

 

While she has that aforementioned bye into Worlds, Richardson said it was important for her to come to Eugene and show progress.

 

“I wanted to come out here and be a competitor,” she said. “I’m not just relying on that bye. I wanted to show up and show that I’m a competitor no matter what happens.”

 

Richardson, Thomas and Jefferson-Wooden are all set to attempt the double here in Eugene, racing both the 100m and 200m.

 

Saying she’s “been going through a lot” this year, Richardson says it all comes back to consistently showing up: For herself, her team and to test her limits as one of the best sprinters in the world.

 

“I think the most I’ve learned about myself is just always show up, no matter anything else,” she told Olympics.com. “Just always show and leave what it is that you want the world to see and know [about you] on the track.”

 

Sha’Carri Richardson’s programme at the USA Track & Field Championships 2025

All times local time (Pacific Time (CEST -9).

 

Friday, August 1

 

How to watch Sha’Carri Richardson at the USA Track & Field Championships 2025

U.S. fans can follow action from Hayward Field live and on demand via NBC and Peacock starting on Saturday. Action prior to that will be available through USATF.TV, a paid platform. USATF announced on Wednesday (30 July) that the men’s and women’s 100m finals on Friday (1 August) will be free for all fans to watch.

 

Sha’Carri Richardson on her journey to Paris 2024: I’ve stayed grounded in myself

The 2023 world champion in the 100m, Richardson arrived at Paris 2024 for her debut Games with a mindset that is rooted in self-belief: ‘I’ve grown a better understanding of myself.’

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*