Olympic 100m silver medallist Sha’Carri Richardson beaten in Tokyo season-opener
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The United States' Sha'Carri Richardson competing in the women's 100m during the Golden Grand Prix Japan at the National Stadium in Tokyo on May 18.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO – Olympic 100m silver medallist Sha’Carri Richardson underwhelmed in her season-opener in Tokyo on May 18, finishing fourth in 11.47 seconds, four months before the world championships are held in the same stadium.
The American, who ran with strapping on her lower right leg, was slow out of the blocks and never led the Golden Grand Prix women’s 100m, which was won by Australia’s Bree Rizzo in 11.38sec.
American Twanisha Terry, fifth in the 2024 Olympics, was second in 11.42sec followed by Canada’s Sade McCreath in 11.46sec.
World champion Richardson will defend her title in the Japanese capital in September.
“It’s a season-opener for those athletes and they will be very, very strong come the world championships,” said Rizzo.
“I really look up to those athletes, so to come out on top was pretty exciting for an Australian athlete.”
Christian Coleman, Richardson’s boyfriend and training partner, finished third in the men’s 100m in 10.11sec.
Japan’s Hiroki Yanagita won the race in 10.06sec, followed by American Christian Miller in 10.08sec.
“Each race, every opportunity I have is more of a mental, internal battle for me to get better,” said Coleman, the 100m world champion in 2019.
“I felt some good things today and I want to just keep getting better at it.”
Ukraine’s world and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.96m, well below her world record of 2.10m.
She also won at both Diamond League meetings in China at Xiamen and Shaoxing/Keqiao in the past month.
“I’m satisfied with this competition,” said Mahuchikh.
“Of course the result is not good, but I’m happy with that because my body is not ready to jump high today.”
Japan’s world and Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi won the women’s javelin with a throw of 64.16m.
American Robert Gregory won the men’s 200m in 20.24sec ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse, who won gold at the same stadium at the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Massimo Stano broke the men’s 35km race walk world record with a time of 2hr 20min 43sec at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, the Czech Republic, on May 18.
Stano, who won gold in the men’s 20km race walk at the Tokyo Olympics and finished fourth in the same event at the 2024 Paris Games, shaved 57sec off the previous record set by Canada’s Evan Dunfee in March.
The 33-year-old also won the 35km race walk at the 2022 world championships in Eugene, Oregon in the United States. AFP
