Richardson finishes 4th and will not have a place in the 200m at the Olympics

EUGENE, Ore. – Sha’Carri Richardson was passed on the outside throughout and finished fourth in the 200-meter final at the U.S. Track Trials on Saturday, meaning she won’t have just one chance to win an individual Olympic gold medal next month. Paris.

Gabby Thomas won the race in 21.81 seconds for her second straight national title. Richardson was in the top three at that distance, her second-best, with about 40 meters to go, but Brittany Brown and McKenzie Long passed her and pulled away.

Richardson finished in 22.16 seconds, his slowest time of three races in the 200 meters.

Thomas, 27, who decided not to run the 400 meters during the trials so she could focus solely on the 200, her best race, will look to add to the bronze medal she won in that event ago three years in Tokyo.

“I knew I had to do the work today and this is a first step,” Thomas said. “There would have been no gold medal in Paris without doing the work today, so I’m just thrilled to be alongside these incredible women.”

Richardson will still have the 100m – where she will be the favourite and reigning world champion – as well as a spot on the women’s 4×100 relay team.

Richardson applauded and blew a kiss to the crowd before hurrying out of the tunnel after a race that was never her best but in which she was widely considered a top-three contender. She won bronze at last year’s world championships in the 200m.

Unlike Thomas, she ran three laps last week in the 100m, which can be very taxing physically and mentally. Unlike Thomas, she also received a warning for a lane infraction in Friday’s semifinal, meaning if she does it again she would be disqualified.

Richardson wobbled slightly at the start, similar to her burst off the block in the first round of the 100m last week, but handled the curve well and was neck and neck for third with Tamara Clark, four lanes to her left, as they hit the straightaway.

But trouble came from her right. Brown finished in 21.90, her personal best, and Long was 0.01 seconds behind her, with a considerable gap before Richardson passed.

Thomas has never lost to Richardson in the 200. Her biggest challenge in Paris will likely come from Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, who ran 21.41 at last year’s world championships, the second-fastest time in history. Jackson won her preliminary round at the Jamaican national championships on Saturday.