At tonight’s 200-meter final, the matchup to watch was Tokyo bronze medalist Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson, who had already secured her trip to Paris with a decisive victory Published: Jun 29, 2024 9:24 PM EDT.
In the end, Thomas, 27, reigned supreme, winning in 21.81 seconds and earning her second trip to the Games. Richardson was barely a factor; though she got off to a strong start and avoided stepping on the line—which earned her a warning in the semifinal—she couldn’t fine another gear in the home stretch, and finished fourth in 22.16.
Brittany Brown, 29, ran a personal best 21.90 to take silver. McKenzie Long, 23, the NCAA champion in the 100 and 200 meters, ran her way to an emotional third-place finish, clocking 21.91 en route to her first Olympic berth.
Thomas, who recently finished her master’s degree in public health at the University of Texas, has her eyes on another medal—preferably gold—in Paris. But as she told NBC’s Lewis Johnson after the race, “this is the first step and there was no gold medal in Paris without making the team today.”
Brown—who won silver at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha—told Johnson “it’s been a long journey to get here.” And Long teared up on the broadcast, with a message for her late mom, who passed away suddenly in February. “Your baby girl is going to Paris," she said.
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
