The crucial error which cost Sha'Carri Richardson in shock Olympics defeat

Sha'Carri Richardson missed out on an Olympic gold medal after paying the price for a slow start in the women's 100m final.

Richardson, who won gold at last year's world championships, had to settle for silver in Saturday's Olympic final as Julien Alfred of St Lucia took gold with a stunning performance. 

It was a disappointing outcome for the 24-year-old at her first ever Games - three years after she missed out in Tokyo after testing positive for THC.

And when assessing where she went wrong, Richardson will surely look no further than her sluggish reaction to the starting pistol.

It took the reigning world champion 0.221 seconds to get out of the blocks, which was the slowest time of all eight runners on the day.

She was then forced to spend the duration of the race chasing down Alfred, but in the end was left to rue her poor start.

Richardson was favored to win the event after she was denied the chance to compete in the delayed Tokyo Olympics due to being suspended from Team USA. 

At the time, she tested positive for THC, a chemical found in marijuana, and later explained that she used the drug to cope with 'emotional panic' after being told that her biological mother had died. 

Hours before the 100-meter final at the 2024 Games, two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica pulled out of the event ahead of the semifinals. 

The 37-year-old, who won the event in 2008 and 2012, was scheduled to run in the same heat as Richardson and Alfred. 

She previously said Paris will be her final Olympics but gave no immediate reason for withdrawing. 

It was later claimed that Fraser-Pryce, who turns 38 later this year, pulled out because of a hamstring injury.

According to reports, the sprinter suffered the issue during her warm-up ahead of Saturday's semi-final.