Julien Alfred Hands Sha’Carri Richardson First 100m Defeat of 2023 at Gyulai István Memorial
By Jonathan GaultEntering Tuesday’s Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary — a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet — US champion Sha’Carri Richardson and NCAA champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia both owned perfect records in the 100 meters in 2023, each winning all five of their 100m finals. Something had to give. And in the battle of unbeatens, it was the 22-year-old Alfred who prevailed over the 23-year-old Richardson, winning in 10.89 to Richardson’s 10.97.
Richardson did not get a great start, trailing Alfred and USA 3rd-placer Tamari Davis, and while Richardson was able to run down Davis for second, she could not overcome Alfred, who was running her first European race of the season. Richardson, who was running in her second meet in three days after her big win at the Silesia Diamond League on Sunday, ran her slowest time of the season (excluding prelims). Full results here. Race video below.
Julien Alfred picking up on the pro scene where she left off in the NCAA – beats US champ Sha' Carri Richardson, 10.89 to 10.97, at the #ContinentalTour gold meeting in Hungary. pic.twitter.com/ViFAsfP0K7
— Cathal Dennehy (@Cathal_Dennehy) July 18, 2023
Results (wind: +0.7)
Quick Take: Alfred stays perfect
Alfred had a huge workload this year for the University of Texas, running hard since January and tripling at both NCAA indoors and NCAA outdoors. Sometimes that long season can catch up to younger athletes but Alfred has won both of her races since the NCAA final on June 10, claiming the Central American and Caribbean Games title on July 3 and now winning her European opener.
Quick Take: Sha’Carri Richardson has been racing a lot recently and it may have caught up to her today
Richardson has been brilliant this season and one bad race today does not change that. Alfred almost broke Richardson’s collegiate record at NCAAs and is a genuine medal threat in Budapest; there’s no shame in losing to her. But 10.97 is well off Richardson’s usual level and it’s worth pondering what went into that performance.
The most obvious culprit is Richardson’s start. It abandoned her in the US final, but she overcame it in Eugene to still win that race in 10.82. It was not good today either. Richardson’s top speed is incredible, but the women’s 100 is a deep event this year with the likes of Alfred, Shericka Jackson, Marie-Josee Ta Lou, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce all capable of dipping into the 10.7s or lower. To prevail against that group at Worlds, Richardson’s start will need to be on point.
The other thing worth noting about Richardson is that she has been racing a lot this year. She opened up on April 8 with a wind-aided 10.57 in Florida, then went to Africa, Asia, and back to Africa for a series of meets in the spring before returning to the US. Her race today was her eighth in the last 13 days (three rounds each of the 100 and 200 at USAs, 100 in Silesia on Sunday, 100 today) and it’s possible she was feeling the effects of all that racing and travel. Richardson will race next in the 100 in London on Sunday so we’ll see how she responds to this setback.
