EUGENE, Ore. — Sha'Carri Richardson will not race in the 200 meters at the Olympics after finishing fourth at U.S. track trials Saturday in a race Gabby Thomas won in 21.81 seconds.
Richardson was in the top three with about 40 meters left but faded down the stretch and finished in 22.16, slower than either of her preliminary rounds. Brittany Brown and NCAA champion McKenzie Long earned the second and third spots.
The 27-year-old Thomas, who gave up running in the 400 meters so she could focus solely on her best race, the 200, will look to add to the bronze medal she won in the event three years ago in Tokyo.
Richardson will have the 100, where she is the reigning world champion, and a spot on the women's 4x100 relay team.
Richardson clapped her hands and blew a kiss to the crowd before exiting the tunnel quickly after a race where she was not a favorite but widely viewed as a top-three candidate.
Unlike Thomas, she ran three rounds last week in the 100, which can take both a physical and mental toll. Unlike Thomas, she was also dealing with a warning for a lane violation from Friday's semifinal, meaning if she did it again, she'd be disqualified.
Richardson wobbled slightly at the start, a la her burst from the block in the opening round of the 100 last week, but handled the curve well and was neck and neck for third with Tamara Clark, four lanes to her left, as they hit the straightaway.
The trouble, however, came from her right. Brown finished in 21.90, a personal best, and Long was .01 behind her, with a sizable gap left before Richardson crossed.
Thomas has never lost to Richardson in a 200. Her biggest challenge in Paris figures to come from Jamaican Shericka Jackson, who ran 21.41 at last year's world championships — the second-fastest time in history. Jackson won her preliminary round at Jamaica's nationals Saturday.
