'She is exceptional'- Jamaican-Canadian legend defends Sha'Carri Richardson's 2024 season despite Olympics setback

Sha'Carri Richardson's mentality alligns with Usain Bolt's famous words

'She is exceptional'- Jamaican-Canadian legend defends Sha'Carri Richardson's 2024 season despite Olympics setback

Abigael Wafula 05:30 - 15.01.2025

The three-time world champion shared his thoughts on Sha’Carri Richardson’s 2024 season and her potential for a strong comeback.

Three-time world champion Donovan Bailey is unbothered about Sha’Carri Richardson’s form and he shared an unpopular opinion about the American sprint queen’s 2024 season.

Many believe that Richardson had one of her worst seasons in 2024 but Bailey is adamant that she had one of the best seasons, ending her Olympic campaign with two medals.

Despite being a favourite to win the gold medal in the women’s 100m, Richardson failed to impress and instead settled for a silver medal, finishing second behind Julien Alfred. She went on to anchor the American 4x100m relay team to a gold medal.

According to Donovan Bailey, that was a pretty amazing campaign and he even lauded Richardson for her consistency in the sport.

The two-time Olympic champion added that racing against Julien Alfred at the Olympics was a test for her and there are certain aspects she needs to work on.

“I think the expectations were that Sha’Carri was going to run quite well and that’s just what it is. And frankly, so, she has been consistent. We always have discussions about what it is she does in a race,” Donovan Bailey said.

“Sha’Carri is exceptional when she executes her drive phase very well and then in the middle of the race she separates herself from the other ladies and no one is on her shoulder.

"The Olympic final was a test for Julien Alfred getting out of the blocks with her and then separating herself from Sha’Carri.”

The Jamaican-Canadian sprint icon further noted that Sha’Carri Richardson has gotten to another level of sprinting and despite her mixed season in 2024, she remains unmatched.

Going into the 2025 season, Donovan Bailey noted that her coach Dennis Mitchell will not allow what happened in 2024 to repeat itself and they will go back to the drawing board.

“I think she had a great season and she remains one of the biggest and most influential people in the track and field sphere. I think that she is going to run a couple of indoors and she is going to come out firing on everything,” he said.

“I can’t imagine that she would be disappointed in the year she had and the consolation prize for her was getting a relay gold. She left Pari as the Olympic champion and I can’t imagine that she would be complaining about her season.

"I’m very certain that she is going to go back and Dennis is going to pull out all the tools from the box and she will be back stronger.”

She is the defending champion in the women’s 100m at the World Championships and has her work cut out as she prepares for the global showpiece in Tokyo, Japan.

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