EUGENE, Ore. — Late Sunday afternoon, a few minutes after Gabby Thomas ran this year’s fastest 200-meter time in the world during the semifinals at the U.S. track and field championships, she was scrolling through her phone when she realized her time had already been eclipsed.
Thomas read that in Kingston, Jamaica, Shericka Jackson had just wrested the world lead away with a time of 21.71, 0.15 faster than the American.
“I was like, they can’t let us have anything!” Thomas said.
By night’s end, motivated by what she said was Jackson’s race, Thomas reclaimed that mark by winning the U.S. title in 21.60 seconds. It was a lifetime best and also the fourth-fastest wind-legal performance in history. And she did so with command, pulling away from runner-up Sha’Carri Richardson over the final 100 meters.
The rivalry sets up one of the most anticipated races of the world championships in Hungary on Aug. 19-27. Though Jackson was undoubted entering this season, having run history’s second-fastest time to win the 2022 world 200-meter championship in 21.45, her top challengers all carried question marks. Thomas, the Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo, was coming off a hamstring injury that derailed her 2022 season. Richardson’s performances for the past two seasons had ranged from world-class to not fast enough to advance out of the preliminaries at the U.S. championships.
Yet in Eugene, Thomas re-established her standing as one of the world’s top sprinters while Richardson, in winning the 100 and finishing second to Thomas in the 200, also navigated six rounds without incident. The last U.S. woman to win gold at the world championships was Allyson Felix in 2009. Since then, three Jamaican women have won gold.
The 200-meter final at the world championships is Aug. 25. It could be the race of the meet.
Here’s what else was learned at the U.S. championships:
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