MELBOURNE (AUS): Sha’Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman have arrived in Australia ahead of their highly anticipated debut at the Powercor Stawell Gift (4th and 6th April). Both are preparing to compete over 120 m on grass in a handicapped field, lining up as backmarkers on scratch as they chase down Australia’s best professional runners. Only two men and two women have been able to win the races off the scratch mark in the event’s 147-year history.
Sha’Carri Richardson, NIKE Pre Classic presser, July 4, 2025, photo by Brian K. Eder, for RunBlogRun
“I get to start my season off doing something I have never done before. I think that’s just going to be a marker for how my season is going to go for me. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but I love a challenge,” said Richardson.
Sha’Carri Richardson is numero uno in Eugene, photo by Chuck Aragon for RunBlogRun
“I think I have the talent and the ability, and like Sha’Carri said, I will not leave the vicinity without giving everything that I have. I am a competitor, that’s just what it is… when everyone has the same circumstances, I like my odds,” said Coleman.
Christian Coleman, warming up, May 24, 2024, photo by Brian Eder for RunBlogRun
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.
