The year may not be over, but Sha’Carri Richardson is already reflecting on the challenges 2025 has brought her.
After an injury-disrupted season, the 2023 world champion finished fifth in the 100m final of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo – a result that showed her resilience in fighting back against the odds, as well as her body’s inability to overcome the setbacks of those early-season woes.
In recent days, Richardson has been in a reflective mood: absorbing the year’s lessons and counting her blessings.
“2025 owes me nothing but I am thankful for what this year has revealed and allowing the tone to be set for the rest of my life,” she said on an Instagram post on Monday.
But the world championships may not yet be over for the Paris 2024 Olympic 100m silver medallist.
Could the tone she is setting for her future self begin to reveal itself by helping her U.S. teammates win gold in the 4x100m relay?
While the teams for the relay have not yet been revealed, Richardson has proven herself to be a phenomenal performer in the event in the past.
She spectacularly anchored the USA to 4x100m glory at both the Budapest 2023 Worlds and Paris 2024 Olympics.
Now, with the prospect of joining up with her Florida training stablemates, Twanisha Terry and newly-crowned world 100m champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in Tokyo, she has the opportunity to put a bow on her difficult season.
The 25-year-old can show the world that while individual victory was beyond her grasp, collective glory may allow her to end 2025 on a high.
Richardson ended her latest Instagram post with a saying, “You have to dig through the dirt to get to the treasure.”
This year, she has certainly trawled through the weeds of her sport, but the treasure may still be waiting on the other side.
The heats of the women’s 4x100m relay take place on Saturday 20 September, with the final coming a day later on Sunday 21 September.