Sha’Carri Richardson faces a stacked 100m field at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic
Richardson will be up against a formidable field in the women’s 100m at the Eugene Diamond League, which features an all-star Paris 2024 rematch, with reigning Olympic gold medallist Julien Alfred and bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden at the starting line.
Alfred, St. Lucia’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist, finished second to Richardson at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic—and she’ll undoubtedly be aiming to go one better this time. At the pre-race press conference, Alfred reflected on her complicated history at Hayward Field, where she won her first NCAA title at age 21, but later false-started in her debut World Championships. “I have a loving relationship with Hayward Field,” she said. “I’m looking forward to going out there tomorrow, making it count, and hoping for a better outcome.”
Jefferson-Wooden, who trains alongside Richardson, clocked a personal best of 10.73 seconds in the women’s 100m at Grand Slam Track’s Philadelphia meet on 1 June. Her approach to the race remains steady: “Taking it literally one day, one practice, one meet at a time, and focusing on every single part that gets me to where I want to be. So that’s what I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Jefferson-Wooden also spoke about the strength of her training group, which includes Richardson and Olympic 4x100m relay gold medallist Twanisha Terry, who took second in Tokyo with a time of 11.42 seconds and will also be on the 100m starting line in Eugene, “We do a great job of bringing out the best in one another,” Jefferson-Wooden added.