Richardson Runs Word-Leading Wind Legal Time (10.76) As Diamond League Season Starts In Doha

By David Woods for DyeStat

Diamond League photos courtesy Marise Nassour and Matt Quine

For those waiting for Sha’Carri Richardson to do something on an international stage, the wait is over.

The 23-year-old American beat a strong field in the 100 meters Friday at Doha in the first Diamond League meet of the year.

Richardson’s time was 10.76 seconds, fastest wind-legal mark of 2023. It was her first Diamond League victory and most meaningful performance since the 2021 Olympic Trials.

Afterward, she tossed her bouquet into the stands and posed for photographers.

Coincidentally, Richardson broke the meeting record of 10.80 set by Tori Bowie in 2016. Bowie died this week of undisclosed causes. She was 32.

“I’m so blessed and thankful. I feel at peace,” Richardson said in a statement posted by the Diamond League. “All I do is the best I do, and I’m excited to do it.”

She was third through about 60 meters but closed quickly.

The past two world 200m champions –  Shericka Jackson of Jamaica and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain – were second and third in 10.85 and 10.98. Also trailing were TeeTee Terry, anchor for the gold-medal U.S. team in the 4x100 relay at last year’s World Championships, and defending U.S. champion Melissa Jefferson. They were fourth (11.07) and sixth (11.19), respectively. Abby Steiner was eighth in 11.19.

Richardson ran a wind-aided 10.57 (+4.1) on April 8 for the No. 4 time in history under all conditions.

She is the only U.S. woman to break 10.80 since the start of 2017 and has done so five times, according to NBC researcher Nick Zaccardi.

Richardson has never run in a global championship. She was eighth at the 2019 nationals after setting a World U20 record at NCAAs, was disqualified after the Olympic Trials in 2021 because of a positive marijuana test, and was eliminated in the first round of the 2022 USATF Championships.

To compete in August’s World Championships at Budapest, Hungary, she must make the U.S. team in the nationals July 6-9 at Eugene, Ore.

In another sprint showdown, Fred Kerley erased a two-meter deficit over the closing 50 and won the men’s 200 in 19.92. The 100-meter world champion decisively beat Kenny Bednarek, silver medalist in the 200 at the 2021 Olympics and 2022 Worlds. Bednarek was second in 20.11.

Canada’s Andre DeGrasse, reigning Olympic champion in the 200, was sixth in 20.37. Michael Norman, World champion at 400, ran awkwardly and was eighth in 20.65.

“How does Norman finish last? I’m not sure it’s physical but maybe mental,” Michael Johnson wrote in a Twitter post.

Elsewhere in women’s events:

>> Pole vaulter Katie Moon, reigning World and Olympic champion, came from behind to win with a world-leading 15-9.25 (4.81m). Slovenia’s Tina Sutej was second with a national record of 15-7.25 (4.76m). Sandi Morris, opening her season, led through 15-5.50 (4.71m) and finished third.

>> Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon became the first to run sub-4:00 this year, clocking 3:58.57 in her 15th straight win at 1,500. Kipyegon, 29, a four-time global champion, pulled away from rising star Diribe Welteji. The 20-year-old Ethiopian, second in 3:59.34, was fourth in the 800 at 2022 Worlds.

>> Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico won the 100 hurdles in 12.48 in her second competition of the outdoor season. Americans Alaysha Johnson and Nia Ali were second and third in 12.66 and 12.69. It was a bounce-back for Johnson, who was eighth Saturday at the rainy 113th Drake Relays in 13.68 and running in her first Diamond League.

>> Winfred Yavi of Bahrain won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:04.38, leading 11 women under the previous world lead. Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia was second in 9:05.83. World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya was fourth in 9:06.90. Americans Emma Coburn and Valerie Constien both fell. Coburn stepped on the rail after clearing a barrier, got up and went on to be 10th in 9:29.41. Constien dropped out on the third lap and posted on Instagram she sprained an ankle.

Elsewhere in men’s events:

>> Rai Benjamin led the 400 hurdles early but had to scramble from behind to beat CJ Allen, 47.78 to 47.93. Benjamin, silver medalist at three global championships, was just off his world lead of 47.74. Allen, coming off a 48.78 in 50ish weather at Drake, became 21st on the all-time U.S. list with a PB.

“I was expecting a personal best because I have been feeling great in practice,” Allen said. “I knew on the day that I would be able to do a great race.”

>> High jumper JuVaughn Harrison handed Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim a rare defeat on home soil, clearing 7-7.25 (2.32m). World indoor champ Woo Sang-Hyeok of South Korea was second at 7-5.25 (2.27m). Barshim, winner of Olympic gold and three world titles, was third at 7-4.25 (2.24m).

>> Lamecha Girma ran another sizzling 3,000 to lead a 1-2-3 sweep by young Ethiopians. Girma, 22, clocked 7:26.18. Selemon Barega, 23, was second in 7:27.16 and Berihu Aregawi, 22, third in 7:27.61. Girma, who has one Olympic and two World silvers in the steeplechase, set a world indoor record of 7:23.81 on Feb. 15. It was a deep field, featuring Olympic steeple champ Soufianne El Bakkali of Morocco in fourth, 7:33.87, and Olympic 1,500 silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya in fifth, 7:36.72.

>> Olympic and world champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo of Portugal took the triple jump with a barely wind-aided 58-9.25 (17.91m, +2.1). Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso was second, as he was at last year’s Worlds, with a wind-legal world leader of 58-5.25 (17.81m). Andy Diaz of Cuba was third with a windy 58-4.50 (17.80m, +2.6).

>> Another Olympic champ, India’s Neeraj Chopra, threw the javelin a world-leading 290-11 (88.67m). In a rearrangement of the 2022 Worlds podium, bronze medalist Jakob Vadlejch of the Czech Republic was second and World champ Anderson Peters of Grenada third.

>> Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh set a meet record of 232-7 (70.89m) in the discus. He had the four longest throws, including another 70-meter distance (231-11/70.70m). Ceh was close to the world lead of 232-11 (71.00m) by Lithuania’s 20-year-old Mykolas Alekna, who set a collegiate record Saturday for Cal.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.