I CAN"T WAIT for Saturday's women's 100. The talent assembled is insane and the smack talk is great as well. Here is what we wrote about it in our Pre-Classic preview.
JG wrote:
Women's 100 (Saturday, 4:41 p.m. ET)
This was supposed to be one of the greatest races of the Olympics before Sha'Carri Richardson's marijuana suspension knocked her off the US team. And guess what? The women's 100 final in Tokyo was still awesome and the three medalists -- Jamaicans Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson -- are all running Pre.
But there's no denying that Richardson brings something extra to this race -- her attitude, her flair, and her enormous talent. After all, this was one of our "Four Races That Still Need to Happen in 2021." So kudos to the Pre Classic, Nike, and the athletes all getting together to make it happen.
Richardson, who hasn't competed since the US Olympic Trials on June 19, is certainly excited.
Richardson is going up against arguably the two greatest female sprinters of all time, who have run 10.61 (Thompson) and 10.63 (Fraser-Pryce) this year. It's going to be incredibly tough for her. But Richardson has run 10.72 this year herself (all the way back in April, as well as a windy 10.64 (+2.6) and did beat Fraser-Pryce head-to-head in Gateshead on May 23 (albeit in miserable conditions).
Can Richardson back up her big talk with a win, or will the Jamaicans put her in her place? No one knows. And that's what makes this the most compelling race of the meet and one of the most anticipated non-world championship races in history.
One thing was clear from talking to the Jamaicans in Tokyo, they didn't appreciate any talk about Richardson. Whenever a reporter brought up Richardson's name or even mentioned the word marijuana, they would get a stare and reply of something along the lines of "Next question." We highly doubt they'll just be going through the motions in this one.
And can you blame them? Richardson seemingly took credit for the fast times that they put up this year. After Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce ran 10.63 on June 5, Richardson put out this tweet:
https://twitter.com/itskerrii/status/1401202791406870529Now, after the Jamaican sweep at the Olympic Sha'Carri sent out an olive branch via twitter:
https://twitter.com/itskerrii/status/1421603429936414726But this race is going to be incredible.
Full meet preview here:
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2021/08/the-prefontaine-classic-is-going-to-be-incredible-top-10-races-at-the-2021-prefontaine-classic/