Alabama’s Jereem Richards Takes Bronze in 200 Meters at IAAF World Championships
8/10/2017 5:54:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Tide sprinter misses silver by a millisecond and gold by two-tenths of a second
LONDON – Alabama's Jereem Richards (Trinidad & Tobago) took home the bronze medal in the final of the men's 200 meters at the 2017 IAAF World Championships Thursday evening at London's Olympic Stadium.
Running out of lane seven with 2017 world leader Isaac Makwala of Botswana on his inside shoulder in lane six, Richards was in sixth place coming off the turn, but caught Makwala, Japan's Abdul Hakim Sani Brown and the United States' Ameer Webb down the stretch. South Africa's Wayde Van Niekerk, who was seeking to become just the second man to win the 200 meters and 400 meters in one IAAF World Championships, finished second in 20.11 (.106), just ahead of Richards at 20.11 (.107). Turkey's Ramil Guliyev took gold at 20.09.
"I slipped coming out of my blocks and into my drive phase." Richards said following the race. "I tried my best not to let it affect me too much. At the turn I wasn't in contention really, so to get a medal from there is a great achievement. I always wanted to bring a medal back home for my mom. I do everything for her, so I am so happy I can take her the bronze."
Richards joins Calvin Smith (United States), Clive Wright (Jamaica) and Kirani James (Grenada) as the only Alabama men to medal at the IAAF World Championships.
"Words alone can't explain how grateful I am to be in this position and be lucky enough to perform here," Richards continued. "I have been very relaxed amongst so many professional athletes, the greatest athletes of all time. Hopefully I will become one of those type of athletes over the next few years. I still feel like I'm dreaming. I hope I don't wake up."
Smith was a four-time medalist, winning silver (100 meters) and gold (200 meters, 4x100-meter relay) at the first IAAF Championships in Helsinki in 1983 and gold again in the 200 meters at the 1987 championships in Rome. Wright was a member of Jamaica's bronze medal-winning 4x100-meter relay in Rome. James won gold in the 400 meters in 2011 in Daegu and bronze in the same event in Beijing in 2015.
"Winning a bronze medal as a collegiate runner in that field is a tremendous accomplishment," UA head coach Dan Waters said. "Jereem has had a great season going all the way back to the start of the indoor schedule in January. He's run very well this summer and done everything we've asked. I think that's a testament to Jereem's ability and the plan Coach (Blaine) Wiley put together for him. He's looked strong this week and that's what we wanted to see."
Richards will now turn his attention to the 4x400-meter relay, which will begin with the semifinals on Saturday. Richards' 2017 Alabama teammate Steven Gayle will also compete in the 4x400 for Jamaica. Former Alabama sprinter Akeem Haynes will run for Canada in first round of the 4x100-meter relay on Saturday morning as well. Haynes was a bronze medalist in the relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaTrack on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
