Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback halted by Julien Alfred, who brings 1st Olympic medal to Saint Lucia

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Sha'Carri Richardson's comeback story hit a brick wall Saturday when Julien Alfred romped in the rain to the 100-meter title in 10.72 seconds to bring the first-ever Olympic medal to her island country of Saint Lucia.

Racing one lane to the left of Richardson, and with water puddling on the purple track in the Stade de France, Alfred got off to a fantastic start, then powered through the rain and beat Richardson by .15 seconds — about three body lengths.

Richardson' training partner, Melissa Jefferson, finished third in 10.92 seconds.

All week long, the field seemed to be clearing for Richardson, the reigning world champion who was making her Olympic debut after a positive test for marijuana cost her a chance to race three years ago in Tokyo.

When Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce abruptly withdrew from the semifinal, which went off about 90 minutes before the gold-medal race, the entire Jamaican team that had swept the podium in Tokyo was out of the 100.

The strongest contender left was Alfred — the only other Olympic entrant besides Richardson to break 10.8 this year — and when she and Richardson lined up next to each other in the semifinals, it was a preview of things to come.

Alfred won that race by .05, then lined up next to Richardson again for the final and tripled that margin.

Other medals on the line Saturday were for the men's shot put, the women's triple jump, the 4x400 mixed relay and the decathlon.

Earlier in the day, Noah Lyles finished second (10.04) in a sluggish first-round qualifying heat to make the semifinals in the men's 100. The semifinals and finals for that are set for Sunday.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games