Sha'Carri Richardson flies to 10.71s world lead in the prelims at US Championships

Sha'Carri Richardson has proven again why she is the real deal for the world title in Budapest after clocking a jaw-dropping, effortless 10.71s to win her 100m heat at the US Championships.

The time erased her Personal Best (PB) of 10.72s set in 2021, broke the Meeting Record (MR), smashed Marie-Josee Ta Tou's world lead of 10.75s, and tied Shericka Jackson as the sixth fastest in history.

Not only did she make running the time look so easy without breaking a sweat, but she also showed her class was miles ahead of the rest of the field as Brittany Brown finished second in a PB of 10.96s, while Mia Brahe-Pedersen was third in 11.05s.

The 23-year-old exhibits with each race that this year is hers for real and passes a message to her competitors that she's not joking this time around when the big guns meet in Budapest.

Other fast times in the heats had reigning champion Melissa Jefferson begin her title defense with a surprise victory in the second heat clocking 11.10s (-1.2), handing Aleia Hobbs her first 100m loss this year in 11.11s, and Ezinne Abba finished third in 11.15s.

Morolake Akinosun delivered the win in heat 4 in 11.03s (2.1), ahead of U20 Shawnti Jackson in 11.05s, while English Gardner also qualified third with 11.12s.

Tamara Clark took the driving seat in heat 3, storming to a Season's Best (SB) of 11.02s (0.2). Tamari Davis was second in 11.06s, and TeeTee Terry finished third in 11.08s.

With the semifinals and final to come up, one can only imagine what time Richardson will be dropping as she's expected to run faster.

One this is for sure, the women's World Record (WR) is under threat. When Richardson said she was not just back but better, she knew what she was talking about.