In the much-awaited 200-meter final of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field, Gabby Thomas defeated Sha’Carri Richardson.
Thomas had the fastest time, clocking in at 21.81 seconds. Richardson will still race in the 100 meters even though he narrowly missed qualifying for the 200.
McKenzie Long and Brittany Brown, who ran a personal best, will also run the 200 in Paris.
Long sobbed after winning the marathon; her mother passed away earlier this year.
Long said, “Your little girl is traveling to Paris, mom!,” following the marathon.
Two of the most well-known sprinters in America, Thomas and Richardson, qualified for the Tokyo 2020 squad. However, Richardson will make her much-anticipated debut this year after being kicked off the Tokyo squad for failing a drug test.
In her Friday semifinal heat, Richardson was miles ahead of anyone. She finished in 21.92 seconds, matching her personal best.
Then Thomas raised the stakes with a scorching 21.78, the world record for 2024, since he competed in a different heat than Richardson.
Moments after the heat, Thomas told NBC Sports, “That made me really happy.” For me, it was a very easy and seamless run. Really, I had no idea what to anticipate. It was therefore pleasant to witness that type of time for something that seemed so orderly and pleasant.
In addition, world No. 1 Noah Lyles won the men’s 200-meter final at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, setting a new American record in the process with a time of 19.53 seconds. Lyles becomes the world leader for that season at that same time.
Additionally scheduled to compete in the 200 in Paris are world No. 2 Kenny Bednarek and world No. 4 Erriyon Knighton.
With a run of 19.59 seconds, Bednarek set a personal record, and Knighton recorded the best time of the season with a time of 19.77.
For this event, all three have become Olympians. Lyles won bronze in that distance in Tokyo, and Bednarek got silver.
With a time of 19.60 seconds on Saturday, Lyles shattered his own record, which he had set on Friday during the semifinals.
“It felt very natural,” Lyles remarked after the semifinal. “I saw that time appear and was really taken aback. I wasn’t even making a sincere effort.
Lyles was previously qualified to compete in the Paris 100-meter race.
Richardson won the 100 earlier this week, stamping her ticket to Paris in her quest to become the “fastest woman in the world.”
Richardson, a native of Dallas and former student at LSU, was unable to compete in the Tokyo Games after testing positive for THC.
In a time when cannabis was becoming more and more legal in America, her supporters criticized U.S. Anti-Doping Agency policies when she acknowledged using the drug to deal with her mother’s passing.
Thomas, a Harvard graduate, placed third in the Tokyo 200. In that event, she and Richardson are rated second and sixth in the world, respectively.
Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, who is participating this weekend in Kingston for her national trials, won the gold medal at the last Olympics.
Olympic gold medallist Raven Saunders, who qualified in the shot put on Saturday, will be going to his third Olympics.
Men’s and women’s 20-kilometer race walks, men’s discus, women’s long jump, women’s shot put, and women’s 10,000 were among the other events that had finals on Saturday.