At age 23, Sha’Carri Richardson entered the 200 m final on August 25, 2023, aiming to complete a historic sprint double. She had posted 22.16s in heats and 22.20s in semis. In the final, she ran a personal best of 21.92 s, earning bronze, behind Gabrielle Thomas‘ 21.81s and Shericka Jackson’s dominant 21.41s world championship record. Despite her fastest-ever time, Richardson couldn’t match Jackson’s historic form and Thomas’s sharper acceleration. And with the advent of the 2025 season, things are beginning to look different…

Anderson Emerole, Coach Rob, and Dawn Harper‑Nelson sat down in a YouTube video that aired today to speak of the possibilities for the 2025 World Championships. Titled, “The THREATS are REAL and coming for Gabby and Sha’Carri?! || An HONEST USA Women’s 200M PREVIEW“, the three track and field pundits did dwell on these threats, but the major threat coming for the 2023 World Champion is none other than her fellow American, Gabby Thomas.

Pondering about the most talented people on the field, Coach Rob filtered out Gabby and Sha’Carri and said in the video, “Gabby, we know she’s already been showing it this year. Sha’Carri, we’re going off a past history because she didn’t just go to the world in 2023. She got a medal when she was there.” Thomas is entering the USA championships with a win-loss ratio of 2:1, without dropping down the silver medal position, while Richardson, the sprinter who won three medals at the ’23 worlds, has not even managed a podium in the two races she has run this year. Nelson did not agree with him here.

The former athlete opined, “Let me fight you there a little bit. Past history in the 200, Sha’Carri’s not strong enough to say she’s just that girl in the two yet.” The Olympian has not even run a 200m this year yet. But arguing his words as his assessment, Rob said that, “Sha’Carri, since the time she came out of college, this is how I read her.” The 2019 NCAA champion clocked a 10.86s for a win in the 100 m trials for the 2021 Olympics, and if not for the suspension, who knows what medals she would have claimed, and then after that, the worlds and the Paris Olympics- all have been a medal fest for her.

Calling the 200m an extra race for her, he even talked of her 200m Olympic trials, where she equaled her personal best of 21.92, finishing fourth. While the argument given here is that she lost the final (4th, 22.16s), her semis were great, as Rob argues. His next words meant that, looking at the leaderboard, many names simply lack the raw ability to match the required pace. While the pace itself is fixed, only those with an exceptional talent like Sha’Carri or Gabby can actually keep up. But which of the two would go higher?

Rob said, “When Gabby says I’m going 21.7 today, how many of y’all can go with that pace? And that cuts the list down to me, cuz I’m assuming Gabby’s going to go. That’s gonna put her at that top line. Sha’Carri has the talent to go, but I don’t know what type of form she’s in. I mean, we can trust we can. I just don’t know.” Her form is still the single great concern of her fans, and if the form continues,  her medal chances are very, very low, and we are not talking of the gold here, the bronze might be a hard fight as well.

Sha’Carri Richardson struggles as her competition grows stronger

Sha’Carri Richardson opened her 2025 season at the Tokyo Golden Grand Prix on May 18, clocking 11.47s into a–0.9 m/s headwind and finishing fourth, her slowest 100 m since May 2021. At the July 5, 2025, Prefontaine Classic in Eugene,  the Olympian clocked a season‑best 11.19 seconds in the women’s 100 m final, finishing in dead last (9th place) in a deep field. She trailed behind Melissa Jefferson‑Wooden, who won in 10.75s, and Julien Alfred, who took silver in 10.77s. Her competition is only getting stronger.

If we look at Gabby Thomas, she has been better in both the 100 and 200 meters. At the inaugural Grand Slam Track circuit, switching to the long‑sprint category at Kingston, where she claimed the 200 m in 22.62s. At the Philadelphia Slam, she finished 4th in the 100 m (11.16 s) and 2nd in the 200 m (22.10 s) behind Melissa Jefferson‑Wooden. Back in April, she clocked 11.02 to win the 100m at the Texas Invitational. At the sprint-only ATX Sprint Classic in Georgetown, Texas, the Olympian ran a wind‑aided 10.96s in the heats then clocked 10.95s with a +3.1 m/s tailwind, placing 2nd behind Nigeria’s Favour Ofili, who won in 10.78s.

Another American who can be a serious threat to her in the qualifiers is Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. She started by winning the 100 m (11.11) and 200 m (23.46) in Kingston, then clocking a wind-aided 10.75 in Miami. In Philadelphia, she made a stand with personal bests, 21.99 in the 200 m and a world-leading 10.73 in the 100 m. She closed strong with another 10.75 win in Eugene at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, proving she’s now a force in global sprinting. This is not the first time pundits have raised concerns about Sha’Carri, but never say never. What do you think, how will she perform?