St Lucia's Julien Alfred crosses the finish line in first, with the USA's Sha'Carri Richardson eighth, in the women's 100m event of the Diamond League Finals in Brussels. | Nicolas Tucat / AFP via Getty Images

Star names from the recent Olympic track and field events have been in action at the concluding meeting of the sport’s elite event series.

But for Sha’Carri Richardson, the Diamond League Final proved to be a major disappointment.

The American athlete was well off the medal spots in the 100-meter in Brussels, and then dodged the 200-meter altogether, leaving her many fans perplexed.

The 24-year-old appeared to be heading into the two-day meet in decent shape, following on from Paris 2024 and the Weltklasse Zurich event last week.

At the Olympics in August, Richardson (10.87s) took 100m silver behind St Lucia’s Julien Alfred (10.72s) before running the anchor leg for Team USA’s victorious women’s 4x100m relay team.

Then in Zurich — the penultimate meet of the Diamond League season — the result from the Stade de France final was flipped when Richardson (10.84s) edged out Alfred by 0.04 seconds.

Richardson may have come out on top in that Swiss showdown but as had been the case in Paris, her start was relatively slow, certainly when compared to her rivals or her own career-best races.

She clocked 10.65s to win the World Championships crown in Budapest last summer and set the fastest time in the world this year with a time of 10.71 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene in June.

Yet despite the obvious issue with her reactions, in Zurich she still stormed through from the halfway point to squeeze past Alfred and cross the line first.

On Friday, Richardson readied herself for their next contest by practising block starts at a damp King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Her Team USA training partner — and rumored boyfriend — Christian Coleman was alongside her.

Richardson, who is bisexual, has studiously avoided confirming any romance with Coleman publicly but videos of them out shopping and spending time together have convinced the majority of their fans that they are now a couple.

In addition, both athletes are now working under coach Dennis Mitchell, with Coleman having switched recently from his long-time coach from his college days, Tim Hall.

But while things seem to be clicking nicely for Richardson away from the track, she failed to deliver on Friday night.

In chilly conditions, she came in eighth in 11.23s, noticeably slowing down when it became clear that a top-three spot would elude her. Alfred was first in 10.88s.

Richardson had been down to race in the 200m as well on Saturday but her name was removed from the start list shortly beforehand.

It all adds up to a sad end to her Diamond League challenge and when next year’s track season starts up, building towards the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September, Richardson’s quest to retain her world 100m sprint title is sure to be scrutinized closely.

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