Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback was stopped by Julien Alfred, who brought home the first Olympic medal to Saint Lucia

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Anyone who cared to look could see tiny signs that sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson won’t be quite the person she’s turn out to be.

Shaky beginnings. Small details. Soft exit from the Olympic trials earlier this summer after such a promising start.

All the hype aside, Richardson was never certain to win Olympic gold in the 100 meters on Saturday. On a rainy and strange evening at the Stade de France, 23-year-old Julien Alfred from St. Lucia showed there’s a couple of inspiring story, and a couple of great sprinter, at this Olympic track and field meet.

Alfred fought his way through the puddles, overtaking Richardson and the remainder of the much-depleted group to finish in 10.72 seconds, bringing down the wall before what was to be one in all the biggest stories of Paris.

She beat Richardson by 0.15 seconds — the largest margin in the 100 meters at the Olympics since 2008 — to bring home her first medal to the tiny eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Alfred’s victory capped a journey that included the death of her father in 2013 and a move to Jamaica as a youngster in hopes of coaching to turn out to be an excellent sprinter.

“He thought I could do it,” Alfred said, crying as she spoke of her father. “He couldn’t see me on the biggest stage of my career.”

Richardson ended up with silver — a pleasant color, but actually not what she wanted after what she had been through in the past three years. Her training partner, Melissa Jefferson, finished third in 10.92 seconds.

Richardson is the favorite, although she hasn’t played perfectly this summer.

Her first race before Paris ended with a disastrous start in the Olympic qualifiers, which she won due to an untied shoelace.

Those starts were barely higher, but after winning the US national championship title in the 100 meters, she was a bit surprised when she didn’t qualify for the 200 meters, which meant she lost her likelihood for double gold in Paris.

On the day the gold medals were to be awarded in the 100 metres, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce suddenly withdrew from the event before the semi-finals, leaving all three Jamaican women who had finished on the podium at the Tokyo Games on the sidelines in what was at one point billed as the most vital race of the Games.

It all seemed to be falling into place for Richardson — except when she lined up for the semifinals, she found herself right next to Alfred, the only other woman on the Olympic team to run sub-10.8 this yr.

Richardson stumbled out of the starting blocks and lost the race by 0.05 seconds. It was an indication of things to come, though Alfred said she barely noticed who was on the track next to her — it was Richardson again — as the finale rolled around 90 minutes later.

“Sometimes when I do it, I tend to panic,” Alfred said. “So far this year, (not paying attention) has been such a good strategy.”

Neither the specter of Richardson to her right nor the downpour that began about 10 minutes into the race could slow Alfred down in the final.

Alfred’s early burst played an enormous part in her winning the world indoor 60m title earlier this yr, and she or he began strongly this yr, having two strides ahead of the pack in the 40m. Richardson, as she did earlier this summer, worked hard to rise up to speed.

The American, along with her arms spread wide in lane 7, seemed to be making up some ground as Alfred leaned toward the finish line. But there was an excessive amount of difference between them, and the real battle for second place was between Richardson and Jefferson.

“I’m a baby in this sport,” said Jefferson, 23, who won the 2022 U.S. title while Richardson was still shaping her comeback. “I have a lot of learning and growing to do.”

The centerpiece of NBC’s pre-Games coverage and star of a Netflix documentary about track, Richardson skipped interviews after ending second, a rare breach of Olympic protocol and a move meant to keep the world guessing a few star who has stuck to her message since her luck began to change this time last yr.

In several interviews she gave before the Games, she focused on her personal growth and the way she has turn out to be a more thoughtful and mindful person since her lowest point in 2021, shortly after learning of the death of her biological mother.

That triggered a bout of depression that left her alone in a hotel room during the 2021 Olympic trials, where she said she used marijuana. That cost her a visit to Tokyo. It took her two years to climb back to the top, and because it seems, the pinnacle got here last yr at the world championships in Hungary, when she won the 100-meter title.

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Considering where she was at the last Olympics, a silver medal at these games, with a likelihood for a greater result next week in the 4×100 relay, that is not a nasty result.

But almost nobody considered her to be second fiddle to the sprinter from Saint Lucia.

Alfred said that on race days she normally wakes up early to write her thoughts in a journal.

On Saturday, she kept it easy. “I wrote ‘Julien Alfred: Olympic Champion,’” she said.

Short. Simple. And 100% on course, very similar to the race she ran to turn out to be one in all them.

America to win gold, silver and bronze elsewhere on day two

The only American gold medal of the day went to Ryan Crouser, who won three world titles in the shot put. Another silver went to the American mixed 4×400 relay, which was caught in the anchor lap by Femke Bol of the Netherlands.

Jasmine Moore won the bronze medal in the triple jump competition, won by Thea Lafond, who brought Dominica its first Olympic medal.

Moore is poised for a double win when she competes in the long jump later this week.

“Tomorrow I think I’ll eat, lift, eat some more and enjoy it,” Moore said. “And when it’s time for the long jump, just try to have some fun.”

Noah Lyles advances to men’s 100m semifinals

Earlier that day, Second place went to Noah Lyles (10.04) in a slow first round of qualifying to reach the semifinals in the men’s 100 metres. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday.