Paris 2024 Olympics: Sha'Carri Richardson on her 'full-circle moment' ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 (2024)

To be in the presence of sprinting sensation Sha'Carri Richardson is something special.

Last month, at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field in Eugene, Oregon, the reigning world champion in the 100m worked her way through three races to not only earn her spot at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, but set a world lead time of 10.71 while doing so.

While she had all eyes on her from start to finish, her pre- and post-race aura leaves nothing to be desired: Sha'Carri has arrived as a global superstar in women's athletics... and she intends to show that off on the Olympic stage in the coming days, too.

"It's a full circle moment," Richardson told reporters in Eugene after her 100m victory. "I'm super excited to continue to grow and build from this momentum that we've already established here."

Her mantra since winning the U.S. and world titles in 2023 has been, "I'm not back, I'm better." And while her times on the track show that to be true, it's the internal work that Richardson, now 24, has said is the most integral part of the process.

"Everything I've been through... to be in this moment right now," she said, continuing: "There's nothing I've been through that hasn't designed me to sit right here in front of you."

• Sha'Carri Richardson sets world lead time on way to title at U.S. Trials
• Eyeing gold in Paris, Sha'Carri Richardson says, 'Track is my life'

Sha'Carri Richardson on how her training mates have pushed her

Richardson's path to Paris is well-known: She was a star on the rise in 2021 when she tested positive for marijuana after qualifying for Team USA for Tokyo 2020. As her restults wavered over the next couple of years, Sha'Carri found another level last season, culminating with that world title in Budapest.

The success as part of the process is not lost on her.

"I know that the hard work I put in not even just physically on the track - as well as mentally and emotionally - to grow into the mature young lady that I am today and I'm going to continue to grow into... [that] is a full fledged, surreal moment for me to actually embrace and be able to show to the world."

The unexpected ripple for Richardson is not only does she lead the U.S. trio of 100m women on their way to Stade de France, but does so alongside her two Orlando-based training mates under coach Dennis Mitchell: Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry.

Sha'Carri said their accountability for one another has been critical to their individual successes - hers included.

"We have those building conversations where we compliment each other's talents as well as compliment each other's strengths," Richardson said. "But also... we have those uncomfortable conversations to hold each other accountable. And we're able to embrace each other's weaknesses and actually help each other build up on those moments. So we have all types of conversation."

"We just lean on each other, rely on each other," added Terry. "And we tell each other what it is... whether we want to hear it or not."

Jackie Joyner-Kersee on Sha'Carri: 'She's unapologetic'

Richardson knows that the month between the U.S. Trials and the Games are critical. It was actually her message to others as she left Eugene: Keep working day-by-day; and stay focused.

"Stay grounded in yourself," she said. "Work hard every day that you go out. No matter what you do: Sports, music, education... whatever you're doing, every single day, you treat it like it's your last and you continue to put yourself. And that way, every single day when you step away, you can say you did your best."

There is also that Sha'Carri flare that Richardson operates with, something that legendary Olympic champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee - who believes Richardson is the 100m favourite in Paris - loves to see. It reminds Joyner-Kersee of her late sister-in-law, the sprint star Florence Griffith-Joyner.

"You know, I see so much Flo Jo in so many other women out there today," Joyner-Kersee told Olympics.com. "But Sha'Carri takes it to a whole other level because I love how she's unapologetic for anything: You know exactly where she's coming from [and] who you're dealing with. And then she gets out there and backs it up with her performance.

Joyner-Kersee continued: "[Sha'Carri's] persona on the track is, 'I'm the baddest one out here... and this is what you're going to have to deal with.' But from what I've been able to observe, I love how she performs on the track and then how she gives her time to young people and share with them, 'Don't make the mistakes I made.'

For someone who has known the spotlight in so many ways, Joyner-Kersee sees how Richardson has navigated her own path only as a good thing - and taking learnings along the way. While still winning.

"You have to give credit to a person that wants to be vulnerable and then [who is] able to back up what she puts out there."