Sha’Carri Richardson will line up in the women’s Olympic Development 200 meters at the 2021 Tom Jones Memorial Invitational at the James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, on Friday night. Richardson, who is coming off a world-leading time over the 100 meters last weekend, will aim to build on that performance as she continues her Olympic preparations.
The 21-year-old opened her 2021 Olympic season with a flashing 10.72 seconds personal best and world-leading time at the 2021 Miramar Invitational in Florida last Saturday, a time which is ranked No. 6 all-time among female 100m runners.
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She will enter this weekend’s meeting with a personal best of 22.00 seconds, but if her form last week is any indication of what she will run this weekend, we should expect something fast on the Percy Beard Track.
Richardson will line up in the first of the three heats of the event, racing from lane six against a strong field.
Among the featured sprinters down to challenge the talented American is Nigerian Blessing Okagbare, the 2013 World Championships bronze medalist who owns a personal best time of 22.04. Okagbare is coming off a very productive indoor campaign in which she posted lifetime bests over the 60m and 200m dashes.
She opened her outdoor campaign with a second-place finish over the 400m at the Florida International Pro Addition, running a time of 53.21, which was also a personal best.
Ready To Battle With The Stars
Kyra Jefferson, the 2017 NCAA champion, while representing the University of Florida, will also race in the women’s Olympic Development 200m and she will be hoping to put a marker down and build on last week’s outing. The American opened her season with a slightly wind-assisted 22.80 (+2.3 m/s) display in Miramar last week.
The strong field for heat one is rounded out with Americans Shania Collins and Lynna Irby.
Meanwhile, heat two will feature Americans Jessica Beard, Tori Bowie and Dezerea Bryant and Ecuadorian Angela Tenorio.
Great Britain’s Daryll Neita and Jamaican Brittany Anderson are among the starters in the third heat.
