NANTERRE, France — If you blinked, you may have missed it. But Torri Huske didn’t, and she wasn’t fazed by starting the stacked women’s 100-meter freestyle final on the outside in Lane 1.

She said she’s learning to trust herself, and it’s paying off. Through Wednesday’s events, Huske has the most Paris Olympic medals on Team USA.

In an absolute stunner, Huske raced her way to a silver medal with a time of 52.29 behind world record holder Sarah Sjöström’s 52.16 gold-medal victory. Between Tuesday’s semifinals and Wednesday’s final at Paris La Défense Arena, Huske dropped .70 seconds — an eternity in sprint events. 

“The thing that I really changed was my race plan, and I just really had to commit to it and trust it, which I think is sometimes hard,” 21-year-old American Huske said. 

“In the semifinal, I went a little bit hard on my legs the first 25, so I knew I had to rein it back and just really trust that I could finish the race. And that’s what I did.”

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

A two-time Olympian, Huske shot off the block at the exact same time as Sjöström, was first at the 50-meter mark but clearly saved a little in her legs, powering through a strong finish, just .13 seconds out of first. 

Turns out, being in Lane 1 actually worked to her advantage. Because she only breathes to her left, she couldn’t see anyone else on her first 50, which she said “really calmed me down because I wasn’t comparing myself to anyone.”

Three medals in three races, Huske is having the best Paris Games of any American swimmer so far — and it could get even better for her. She already won her first Olympic gold in the women’s 100-meter butterfly and added a silver in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay. 

And there’s a good chance she’ll swim at least the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay, if not the mixed medley relay as well.

“As proud as I am of my 100 fly [gold], I think I’m equally as proud of my 100 free [silver],” she said. “I think after semis, I realized like everyone was so close, it was anyone’s game. And I love to race, and I think the competition brought out the best in me.”

In Wednesday’s 100 free final, the difference between gold and fourth was .18 seconds, and the difference between bronze and no medal was .01. Doesn’t get much closer than that. 

Behind Sjöström and Huske, Siobhan Bernadette Haughey of Hong Kong earned bronze with a 52.33 race, while Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan was fourth. American Gretchen Walsh finished eighth.

Huske, now a four-time Olympic medalist, is the star of Team USA’s Paris Olympics — a perhaps somewhat unexpected one after qualifying second in her two individual events at  U.S Olympic trials in June. 

Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, she won silver on the women’s medley relay team but missed the podium in the 100 fly by a crushing, single hundredth of a second. In Paris, she’s already tripled her hardware haul from the 2021 Games.

Of Team USA’s 17 medals in the pool, Huske and Katie Ledecky — who dominated the 1,500-meter freestyle as expected Wednesday — are the only two with individual golds.

And there’s little, if any, disappointment from Huske in finishing second to Sjöström, one of the most decorated swimmers of all time. The 30-year-old sprinter from Sweden won her fifth Olympic medal at her fifth Games and was actually a relatively late entry into the 100 free, before winning her first Olympic gold in the event.

“Sarah is the greatest,” Huske said, seemingly fangirling a little. ”I’m so happy for her, and she’s just a really accomplished swimmer, and she’s so sweet and so kind. And it couldn’t have gone to a nicer person.”

PARIS — Get yourself a teammate like Simone Biles.

Biles used an Instagram post celebrating the U.S. women’s gold medal to defend her teammates against MyKayla Skinner’s criticism of them last month. In a since-deleted YouTube video, Skinner said with the exception of Biles, the Americans lack talent and and the current gymnasts don’t work hard enough.

‘Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,’ Biles wrote, adding heart, gold medal and U.S. flag emojis. Her post included four photos of the Americans celebrating their win Tuesday night.

Skinner was passed over for the Rio Olympic team despite finishing fourth at trials, and was named an alternate instead. She didn’t make the Tokyo team, either, going instead as an event specialist. She won a silver medal on vault.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

The team gold gave Biles eight Olympic medals, more than any other U.S. gymnast. The other three veterans on the Paris team — Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles — now have at least two gold medals from the Olympics or world championships.

The fifth member of the team, Hezly Rivera, only turned 16 in June and is in her first year as a senior level gymnast.

In a YouTube video recapping the trials, Skinner said, “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be. I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.’ She also said SafeSport was contributing to the problem because coaches couldn’t be as tough on their athletes as they once were.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent agency that investigates abuse complaints in the Olympic movement. It was formed in the wake of revelations that former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar had sexually abused hundreds of women under the guise of medical treatment, including Biles and other Olympic champions.

Skinner tried to walk back her comments, claiming it was ‘not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work.’ But it’s obvious from Biles’ post, and the responses to it, that her attempt at an apology fell flat.

‘micdrop,’ Nastia Liukin, the 2008 Olympic all-around champion whose parents coach Rivera, said in a reply to Biles’ post.

McKayla Maroney, a member of the 2012 U.S. team that won gold in London, called Biles’ post ‘iconic,’ adding, ‘Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name.’

Great Britain had a good day in the pool Wednesday, finishing with a bronze in women’s synchronized 10m diving, but disaster struck during the men’s 200-meter backstroke heats at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Luke Greenbank finished first in the fourth and final 200 backstroke heat with a time of 1:56, but he didn’t advance to the semifinals. Instead, Greenbank was disqualified from the competition because he was completely underwater past the 15-meter mark following a turn. Greenbank, who won bronze in the event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, put his hands on his head in distress and fell to his knees after learning of his disqualification.

‘I don’t know what to say, absolutely gutted,’ Greenbank said after the race, according to The Sun. ‘It’s really annoying, I feel like I’m in good form.’

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According to World Aquatics, competitive swimming’s international governing body, swimmers participating in the backstroke can’t be fully submerged more than 15 meters after starting the race or completing a turn. ‘By that point the head must have broken the surface,’ the rules state. There are red buoys along each swimming lane to mark the 15-meter point and although it’s not a common rule known by the public, it is well-known among swimmers.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

The final for the 200 backstroke is scheduled Thursday at 2:38 p.m. ET. The field includes Hungary’s Hubert Kós, the 2023 World Aquatics Champion, and Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov, who finished third at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.

American Ryan Murphy, who won a silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and finished second at the 2023 Worlds, didn’t qualify for the final after finishing sixth in his semifinal. Murphy won bronze in the men’s 100-meter backstroke earlier this week.

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PARIS – What’s it like to spoil the biggest party in town?

Ask a couple of Americans, who were far from ugly on foreign – and hostile – soil.

Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, who toil in tennis obscurity relative to the titans who were across the net from them in the Olympic men’s doubles quarterfinals, had their own story to write Wednesday.

Philippe Chatrier may have been Rafael Nadal’s court for the last two decades and Carlos Alcaraz’s for the next two. But in the end, this was the Americans’ turf.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

“Doubles players are certainly deserving and should be respected for what they do,” the 40-year-old Ram said after he and Krajicek delivered a pretty straightforward 6-2, 6-4 defeat to the Nadalcaraz sensation. “I feel like it’s a craft on its own. It’s a different discipline. It’s certainly not the physicality of singles, but it does bring its own set of skills to the table that I think can work even if you’re playing two of the best singles players.”

Though the match turned out to be routine, the occasion was anything but. A full stadium, playing two Spaniards with a combined 26 Grand Slam singles titles and hardly any American flags to be found. Heck, even some people back home were probably rooting for Nadal and Alcaraz to win a medal here in what could very well be the last time Nadal ever takes the court at Roland Garros.

In fact, moments after the match ended, Nadal walked to the middle of the court and waved to the crowd while making a slow, 360-degree turn, as if he were taking in the scene one last time.

“I told Rafa (at the net) it was an honor to play him here,” Ram said.

Was this result an upset? It’s hard to say.

On one hand, Ram and Krajicek are both world-class doubles players, who have worked together the last two years in Davis Cup competitions specifically to prepare for the Olympics since they both have other partners on the regular tour.

Ram has won four Grand Slams with Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury, including the last three US Opens. Krajicek, 34, won the 2023 French Open with Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and reached No. 1 in the world last summer.

This is what they do.

At the same time, there have been numerous examples of top singles players doing very well when they’re motivated to play doubles, a notable example being Nadal winning the doubles gold in 2016 with Marc Lopez or the 2008 Olympics, when Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka teamed up to take home a gold medal for Switzerland.

In this day and age, there’s just not a very big sample size to judge from because so few top men’s singles players even enter doubles at the Grand Slams. It only really happens at the Olympics.

And this time around, the doubles specialists carved up the singles legends like Thanksgiving turkeys. Point after point, Ram and Krajicek were able to use the geometry of the court to put Nadal and Alcaraz in uncomfortable positions, giving them the kinds of angles and awkward shots that they don’t see very often on the singles court.

You could see it develop even on the first point of the match, with Ram making a beautiful move across the net to poach a ball and hit it right at Alcaraz’s feet to handcuff him. Then, on break point, Ram smacked a Nadal serve right at Alcaraz’s body. Intentional or not, a message was sent. The singles guys were going to have a lot more to think about than usual.

“It was just sort of the way we tried to maybe expose some of the things they’re not as comfortable with,” Ram said. “I’m not going to say it’s a weakness because I don’t know if they have weaknesses, per se. But there were things we thought where we could get ahead in points, and it was nice that it worked straightaway. It’s something we talked about for sure.”

In the end, the biggest challenge for the Americans was managing the intangibles. After a dominant first set, the second set was played more tightly. And with each game that went by, the overwhelmingly pro-Spanish crowd began to get more involved.

If someone yelled “Go USA,” boos rained down. Every time there was a possible momentum point in favor of the Spaniards, Nadal played it to the hilt, gesticulating and shaking his fists to get a response from the fans.

“The energy was through the roof,” Krajicek said. “You can feel the momentum going against you. That’s why they’re two of the best ever; they can use a crowd and they do a great job of that.”

It even got disrespectful at the end of the match, as Krajicek stepped up at 5-4 to serve it out, with fans calling out in-between his first and second serves in an attempt to distract him. He almost obliged – almost.

Down 15-40 and the roar building to full tilt, Krajicek made two brilliant serves to get back even. A few moments later, he finished it with an ace off the sideline, with Ram raising his arms in the air when the chair umpire confirmed that the ball was in.

“It was tough,” Krajicek said. “But I would say it was awesome. It was a really cool experience – maybe wouldn’t have been so awesome if I didn’t win the last game. But it was really special to be in that kind of environment and soak it all in. I don’t think you block it out. You try to use it to your advantage and focus on hitting the best serve you can, and I thought we came up with some good answers at the end of the game.”

Now, even more important, Ram and Krajicek have a real chance to win the gold medal. They’ll next play Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, who are not nearly as accomplished or experienced.

But they’ll never forget what happened Wednesday.

“I think it’s something we’ll probably look back on and think it’s pretty amazing,” Ram said. “But we’ve come here to do a job and give our best to go all the way.”

Silver medalist Giorgia Villa from Italy has had one of the most unique brand deals among 2024 Paris Olympics athletes, and she’s going viral for it.

Villa, who was a part of Italy’s runner-up finish behind the United States in the women’s gymnastics team competition, was sponsored by Parmesan. Yes, literally Parmigiano Reggiano.

While it’s unclear if she’s still sponsored by cheese, Villa went viral on Wednesday when an account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared pictures of Villa posing with large wheels of cheese in 2021. She hasn’t posted any advertisement content for the company since 2022.

While it seems she’s no longer sponsored by Parmesan, it still gave the masses some of the most amusing brand content by an athlete out there. The first batch of pictures shared of Villa with the cheese has garnered over 11 million impressions on X as of Wednesday night.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

The 21-year-old is in her first Olympic Games, although she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics but was held out of the competition after spraining her ankle just days before her first trip. On Monday, she helped lead Italy to its first team medal in women’s gymnastics since 1928.

Here’s a look at Villa’s experience with Parmigiano Reggiano, which has the silver medalist gymnast trending on the interweb:

Giorgia Villa sponsored by Parmesan cheese

Here’s some of the best social media posts regarding Villa’s former brand deal with literal cheese:

Among the highlights of the many countries competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics is to see how many medals each nation can rack up, showing off its dominance to the rest of the world.

While the United States is favored to take home the most medals at the Paris Olympics, China is in the mix to have the most athletes on the top podium.

During the 2021 pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, Team USA won 113 medals, including 39 golds, while China won 89 medals and 38 golds.

The last Summer Olympics in which the United States didn’t have the most gold medals was the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, when the host nation won 48 golds to the USA’s 36.

Here are the daily counts of medals won by Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

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Team USA medal count at 2024 Paris Olympics

The United States has earned 30 medals — five gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze. America leads the overall medal count (30), followed by the host country France (26), China (19) and Great Britain (17).

Team USA gold medalists

Team USA’s first gold medal of the Paris Games came Saturday in the men’s 4×100-meter relay. The team of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel posted a blistering 3:09.28 time to win gold.

Here are the rest of the Americans who finished atop of the podium so far:

July 28: American fencer Lee Kiefer won her second straight Olympic gold medal in individual foil by defeating teammate Lauren Scruggs 15-6 in an all-American final. Kiefer becomes only the second U.S. fencer to win two Olympic gold medals in individual competition.
July 28: American swimmer Torri Huske won gold in the women’s 100 butterfly in 55.59 seconds.
July 30: Simone Biles led the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to an Olympic gold medal in the team final. The U.S. team, made up of Biles, Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles, finished nearly six points ahead of the silver medal winners Italy, with Brazil grabbing bronze.
July 31: Katie Ledecky won gold in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle in dominant fashion, setting an Olympic record of 15:30.02. It marked her first gold medal of the Paris Games to go along with a bronze she won Saturday in the 400 freestyle. Ledecky now has won 12 medals in four Olympic Games.

Team USA silver medalists

Here’s the rest of the U.S. silver medalists:

July 27:The U.S.women’s 4×100-meter relay team, made up of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Simone Manuel, secured silver behind Australia.
July 28:Haley Batten won silver for Team USA, finishing second in the women’s mountain biking competition.
July 28:American swimmer Gretchen Walsh won the silver in the women’s 100 butterfly in 55.63 seconds, trailing American teammate Torri Huske.
July 28:American breaststroker Nic Fink finally won himself an Olympic medal, tying world record holder Adam Peaty of Great Britain for silver in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final.
July 28: American fencer Lauren Scruggs won a silver medal in the women’s individual foil competition behind teammate Lee Kiefer in an All-American final.
July 29: American Jagger Eaton won a silver medal in men’s street skateboarding behind Japan’s Yuto Horigome.
July 29:Katie Grimes won silver in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, with Canada’s Summer McIntosh finishing in first.
July 30: American swimmer Regan Smith raced to a silver medal in the women’s 100-meter backstroke. Smith was out-touched by Australian Kaylee McKeown, who won gold.
July 30: U.S. distance swimmer Bobby Finke, the American record holder in the men’s 800-meter freestyle, finished second in the event to win silver.
July 30: The U.S. men’s 4×200-meter relay team, made up of swimmers Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, Drew Kibler and Kieran Smith, raced to silver in the event final.
July 31:American Perris Benegas won the silver medal in women’s BMX freestyle with two clean runs. Benegas’ second, which carried over her emphasis on soaring through the air to impress the judges, ended with a score of 90.70.
July 31:American swimmer Torri Huske pulled off an absolute stunner to win silver in the women’s 100-meter freestyle final. This is the second individual medal of the Paris Games for Huske following her first Olympic gold in Sunday’s women’s 100-meter butterfly final. Huske also won silver as part of the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay on Saturday.

Team USA bronze medalists

Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in history, added to her remarkable résumé with a bronze medal in the much-anticipated women’s 400-meter freestyle race on the first day of the Paris Games.

Here’s all the rest of the U.S. bronze medalists:

July 27:Cyclist Chloe Dygert earned bronze in the women’s road cycling individual time trial.
July 28: Swimmer Carson Foster took bronze in the men’s 400 individual medley.
July 29: American Nyjah Huston won a bronze medal in men’s street skateboarding behind Japan’s Yuto Horigome and U.S. teammate Jagger Eaton.
July 29: Swimmer Luke Hobson won bronze for his first Olympic medal in the men’s 200-meter freestyle.
July 29: Ryan Murphy extended his Olympic medal streak with bronze in the men’s 100-meter backstroke.
July 29: Swimmer Emma Weyant won bronze in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, just behind fellow American Katie Grimes.
July 29: American fencer Nick Itkin won the bronze medal in the men’s individual foil with a victory over Japan’s Kazumi Iimura.
July 29: Team USA men’s gymnastics won bronze in the team competition. The team of Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda and Asher Hong gave the U.S. its first men’s team gymnastic Olympic medal since 2008.
July 30: American swimmer Katharine Berkoff won a bronze medal in the women’s 100-meter backstroke, finishing behind Australian Kaylee McKeown and teammate Regan Smith.
July 30: The U.S. women’s rugby sevens team made history on Tuesday in a 14-12 comeback victory over Australia to win bronze, their first ever Olympic medal. 
July 31: Evy Leibfarth won Team USA’s first canoe slalom medal in 20 years, capturing the bronze in the women’s canoe slalom with a score of 109.95.

PARIS — Between the third and fourth games of the match, a chant resonated through a packed convention hall at the South Paris Arena complex.

Lil-y … clap, clap, clap.

Lil-y … clap, clap, clap.

“It was amazing,” said California’s Lily Zhang.

Yes, table tennis fans – in Europe – were chanting for an American. Not only that, but Zhang also wasn’t the only American who’d play an Olympic round of 16 singles match Wednesday night. A couple hours later, Kanak Jha would become the first U.S. men’s singles player to compete this deep in an Olympic tournament.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

In that sense, it was the type of evening and electric atmosphere that U.S. Table Tennis has been waiting years to enjoy. It showcased how far the sport has quietly progressed in a country where many have played the game of ping pong in a basement or spare room, yet seemingly no one plays table tennis as a world-class sport that requires training, timing, endurance, focus, lighting reflexes and so much mental toughness.

In another way, though, this night at the Paris Games showed how far the sport still has to go in the U.S.

After a spirited run in Paris, Zhang was swept in four games by Shin Yu-bin of South Korea, the tournament’s No. 4 seed. Zhang, the No. 19 seed, lost her first seven points and each of the first three games. She had a shot in the fourth but couldn’t convert on two game points and ended up losing the match 11-2, 11-8, 11-4, 15-13.

“Definitely pretty disappointed and heartbroken with the result,” Zhang said, “but I think I really gave it my absolute everything. I fought until the very end.”

Jha didn’t fare much better. Overmatched against the men’s No. 2 overall seed, Fan Zhendong of China, Jha exited 11-4, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 to end the evening.

“It is very impressive to have two players from the U.S. in the round of 16,” Jha said. “Lily is a more seasoned veteran. I think it’s a great result for here, but also, I’m too surprised. … For myself, I take a lot of confidence in this.”

The run for Jha, 24, was all the more impressive given that he was recently sidelined for 16 months while on a strange suspension.

A drug-tester reportedly couldn’t reach him for mandatory testing because he didn’t include the “+1” in his U.S. phone number on a form, according to Sports Illustrated.

“I am happy how I played,” said Jha, meaning the tournament overall. “I beat some very strong opponents here. I showed, once again, I can challenge almost any opponent in the world at this point being from the USA.”

Zhang, 28, is a professional in her fourth Olympics. She has hinted at the possibility of retirement soon, though she also said after Wednesday night’s match that she’d “never say never” with the 2028 Games being in Los Angeles.

“I’ve done a lot that I’ve wanted to do in my career,” she said. “It’s been a really fulfilling experience. … Since I first started playing, I’ve seen the sport grow so much. Now we have a home league even. We’ve got more professional players. Even though they are small steps, I think it’s really necessary and really cool to see.”

That pro league – Major League Table Tennis – launched last year. There are more clubs and players. And as Zhang mentioned, the next Olympics is at home.

Asked what it would take for the U.S. to take more steps and be able to seriously challenge the Asian powers that have long dominated the sport’s elite, Zhang said, “If I had the answers, I would tell you.”

“Overall, it just needs more exposure, more media, more funding, more eyes on us,” Zhang said.

“It would take a long way,” Jah said. “The U.S. is growing. … We have potential, but we still need time. We need the sport to be bigger in the U.S. The problem is it’s not very mainstream. It’s not very well known. We need more support. I think it is possible, but it will take some steps.”

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@gannett.com and on social media @Gentry_Estes.

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Sha’Carri Richardson crossed the finish line in the 100 meters at the 2024 U.S. Olympic track and field trials and experienced an intense feeling of emotion distinctly different than she’s felt ever before.

‘This time around, I feel as if it was more − definitely still confident, still my exciting, normal self, but more so the overwhelming feeling of joy,’ Richardson said following the race in Eugene, Oregon in late June.

Richardson won with a world-leading time of 10.71 to clinch her ticket to the Paris Olympics.

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Rewind to three years ago, Richardson won the 100 at the 2020 U.S. Olympic track and field trials (which were in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) with a time of 10.86 seconds to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and quickly became track and field’s newest star. But it came to an abrupt halt when she tested positive for THC and was subsequently suspended for one month.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

At the time, Richardson said she used cannabis to help her cope with the death of her biological mother in 2021, just before the Olympic trials. But her suspension ran through the 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics and she was left off the Team USA roster.

Her story since then is one of growth and redemption that reached a crescendo when she won the gold medal in the 100 at the 2023 world championships, staking claim as the fastest woman in the world.

She proceeded to win gold at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic against a competitive field. A few weeks later on the same track, she crossed the finish line first to qualify for the Paris Olympics, where she’ll be the gold-medal favorite in the 100.

“I would say in the past three years I’ve grown, just having a better understanding of myself, a deeper respect and appreciation for my gift that I have in the sport, and as well as my responsibility to the people that believe in and support me,” Richardson said. “I feel like all those components have helped me grow and will continue to help me grow into the young lady I have been divined and blessed by God to be.

“Having a deeper love and a deeper care for the talent I have been given and I take advantage of it, nurture it, take care of my body, my mind as well as my spirit. That way I can continue to execute and show up on the track.”

One of track and field’s brightest stars

Richardson’s charisma, confidence, perseverance through adversity and success have launched her to become one of track and field’s biggest stars. During the U.S. Olympic trials, Richardson’s victory in the 100 was the most-watched clip on NBC Sports’ YouTube page with approximately 1.5 million views as of June 25. Hayward Field’s roughly 12,650-capacity stadium had 11,852 ticketed spectators in attendance the day Richardson won the 100. Additionally, she had one of the loudest ovations from the crowd when introduced at the trials in Eugene.

“Sha’Carri Richardson has certainly drawn in a lot of people who I wouldn’t even have called them casual fans before,” four-time Olympic gold medalist and NBC analyst Sanya Richards-Ross told USA TODAY Sports. “I think they were people that didn’t watch track and field at all that now feel very connected and invested in the sport because of Sha’Carri.”

Richards-Ross, like many others, considers Richardson a face of track and field.

Training partners in Paris

Richardson is slated to compete in the 100 and 4×100 relay at the Paris Olympics. Her qualification in the 100 was sweetened when her training partners, Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, finished second and third, respectively, in the final to join Richardson on Team USA’s 100-meter squad. The trio are coached by former world-class sprinter Dennis Mitchell.

“It definitely confirmed the year we’ve been training for. We’ve been preparing for this moment. It’s a full-circle moment,’ Richardson said. ‘We’re grateful and appreciative and I’m super excited to grow and build from this momentum that we’ve already established. It’s more than exciting to continue to go forward with my girls.

“We didn’t put the world on notice, the world already knew. …We knew this moment could be possible if we put our minds, body and spirit into it.’

What’s possible in Paris?

Richardson has an opportunity to reach the pinnacle of the sport in track and field’s signature event if she wins Olympic gold in the 100. The 100 is considered her strongest event; she didn’t qualify for the individual 200, finishing fourth at trials. She won’t have to compete with 100 and 200 Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. However, the competition to be on top of the Olympic podium will be fierce with Jamaica’s other sprint star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred. Superstar Shericka Jackson of Jamaica pulled out of the 100 meters to focus on the 200.

If Richardson wins an illustrious gold medal in Paris, her stardom will only shine brighter during an opportune time not only for her but the U.S. as the country promotes its stars in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“If she goes to Paris and takes care of business in this 100 and she’s the Olympic champion, where’s the next Olympics? Oh, that’s right. It’s in America,” former Olympian and NBC analyst Ato Boldon said. “We are grateful that we even have a chance to cover somebody like Sha’Carri Richardson because she is so important to the sport, not just globally but domestically.”

Richardson is undoubtedly a medal favorite in the 100 and as part of Team USA’s 4×100-relay team. But notwithstanding of the medals Richardson collects, she has a chance to add another remarkable chapter to her story. The one about growth, redemption and − regardless of the outcome in Paris – triumph.

“Everything I’ve been through is everything I’ve been through to be in this moment right now. There’s nothing I’ve been through that hasn’t designed me,” Richardson said. “And I would say going into the Games, I don’t put a time on myself, I just know that if I execute and run the race that I trained and prepared for, the time comes with it. I’m just excited to go out there and run a well-executed race.”

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