Like anyone in track and field will tell you, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over—unless you’re Sha’Carri Richardson.
Fresh off her dazzling 100-meter Diamond League win in Doha just over a week ago, Richardson, 23, continued her dominance in the 200 meters at Nairobi’s Kip Keino Classic on Saturday—but instead of coasting through the finish line, Richardson surprised everyone by slowing down and throwing her arms up in exuberant celebration with 40 meters left in the race.
It was a deserved hurrah for the sprinter, fresh off her win in Qatar, where her winning time of 10.76 seconds was the fastest 100-meter time in the world so far this year.
Even with her celebration, Richardson covered the 200-meter distance in a meet-record 22.07 seconds. Richardson was quick out of the blocks and overtook the field by the end of the curve, which included fellow Americans Kyra Jefferson and Shannon Ray.
Despite her dominance, the 200 meters is not Richardson’s preferred distance—she was defeated at the distance in Botswana on April 29 and had hoped to run the 100 meters both there and in Nairobi, but she claims she wasn’t invited to by race promoters.
“I got kicked out of the [100 meters] in Botswana and also here in Kenya,” Richardson told FloTrack. “I knew I had to do my best with the performance that I was allowed to run in. Despite what others may have gone on social media and said, no one asked me to run the [100 meters]. Therefore, I know I needed to do what I needed to do in my [200 meters], and I’m blessed for it.”
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
