By Lance Tominaga, ESPN Honolulu Web Editor.

It’s been 25 years since the United States last won Olympic gold in the women’s 100m. That could change this summer, when 21-year-old Sha’Carri Richardson arrives in Tokyo to chase her Olympics dream.

Richardson, a native of Dallas, Texas, captured a spot on the U.S. team this past weekend by winning the 100m event at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Her time was 10.86 seconds, and it was into a headwind. Earlier in the day, she won her semifinal heat with a wind-aided time of 10.64 seconds. The fastest time so far in 2021 is 10.63 by two-time Olympic champion Ann-Fraser Pryce of Jamaica.

The engaging Richardson could very well be America’s next “Golden Girl.” She is confident, sometimes brash, and possesses a fashion style reminiscent of the late Florence Griffith Joyner with her long nails. Richardson also has a gripping personal story: Her mother abandoned her at a young age, and Richardson herself admits to trying to kill herself when she was in high school. Last week, just days before qualifying for the Tokyo Games, she learned that her biological mother had just died.

“I want [people] to know that we go through things, too,” Richardson says. “We are human, just like they are. We just happen to run a little faster and be a little stronger. But at the end of the day, we all want to be heard and understood.”

Here is a quick recap of Richardson’s Olympic Trials championship run:

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