The top three finishers in each heat, plus the next three fastest runners, advanced to Saturday’s semifinal, which will take place at 1:50 p.m. ET/12:50 p.m. CT.
PARIS, France — One down, two to go.
Sha’Carri Richardson, the Dallas native and Team USA track star, won her first-round heat in the 100-meter race Friday at the Olympics, running a time of 10.94 seconds. The event is being held at Stade de France, in a suburb just north of Paris.
Richardson bested Luxembourg’s Patrizia van der Weken, who ran the heat in 11.14 seconds.
The top three finishers in each heat, plus the next three fastest runners, advanced to Saturday’s semifinal, which will take place at 1:50 p.m. ET/12:50 p.m. CT. The final will be held after the semifinal on Saturday.
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Richardson entered Paris as the favorite to win the gold medal. But it was clear Friday she’ll have some stout competition. While Richardson won her heat easily, three other runners posted better times in different heats.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith led all runners with a time of 10.87 seconds in the eighth and final heat of the day. Just behind her in the heat was track veteran Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who ran a time of 10.92 seconds. Great Britain’s Daryll Neita also ran a 10.92 in the third heat of the day.
Richardson won the 100-meter event at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, running a time of 10.71 seconds in the final to finish ahead of Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, who also made the team.
Friday marked a long journey to the Olympics for Richardson, who won numerous state titles at Dallas Carter High School and then national championships in college at LSU. Richardson went on to win the 2021 Olympics trials, ahead of the Tokyo Games, but a failed marijuana test just weeks before the Olympics kept her home.
But she’s been at her career-best in recent seasons, winning the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with a personal-best time of 10.65 seconds.
Richardson’s personal-best time ranks tied for fifth all-time. Florence Griffith-Joyner set the world record of 10.49 seconds in 1988, and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah holds the Olympic record at 10.61. Thompson-Herah is the back-to-back gold medal winner in the 100-meter, but she’s missing the Paris Games with an injury.
