Sha’Carri Richardson misses out on world 200m spot a week after arrest

The American automatically qualifies for the 100m as defending champion but missed out on a 200m spot by a fraction of a second

The sprinter was arrested shortly before the start of US national championships (Getty Images)

American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson failed to qualify for the 200m at this September’s World Championships by one-hundredth of a second.

The 25-year-old has an automatic berth in the 100m as the defending world champion, but had to go through qualifying for the 200m at the US National Track and Field Championships this week.

She finished fourth in her heat in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 22.56 seconds - 0.01 seconds off the time of Madison Whyte, who took the final qualifying spot.

The disappointing result for the Paris Olympics 100m silver medallist comes a little over a week after she was arrested on an alleged domestic violence charge.

Richardson was arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday 27 July, after an alleged altercation with her boyfriend, sprinter Christian Coleman.

Coleman “did not want to participate any further in the investigation and declined to be a victim”, the police report wrote. Richardson was detained overnight and released last Monday, and ran in the opening round of the 100m before withdrawing from the semi-finals.

Coleman ran in the 100m and 200m, finishing fifth and sixth respectively in the final, and defended Richardson, telling reporters, “I don't feel like she should have been arrested. She's a human being and a great person. She's going to bounce back because she's the best female athlete in the world.” Richardson did not answer reporters’ questions after her 200m heat.

“USATF is aware of the reports and is not commenting on this matter,” USA Track and Field said in a statement after Richardson’s arrest.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed the double of winning the women’s 100m and 200m titles in Eugene.