Trinidad and Tobago sprinter
Jereem Richards (born 13 January 1994) is a Trinidadian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres and 400 metres events. He won the bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and gold for the 400 m at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Richards took 200m titles at both the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team that won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 400 m relay at the 2012 World Indoor Championships and a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.
Richards is the Trinidad and Tobago indoor record holder for the 200 m and 400 m. He won three individual national titles.
Personal life
Jereem Richards hails from Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago. He attended the Vessigny Secondary School at his home island. In 2014–15, he attended South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and then transferred to University of Alabama in 2016. In September the following year, Richards forfeited his eligibility to compete in college to turn professional.[2][3]
Career
His first major competition was the 2012 World Indoor Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey. There, he ran the third leg of Trinidad and Tobago's 4 x 400 m relay, which won the bronze medal.[4]
2017
2017 became a breakout season for Richards. He opened his athletics year with a wind-assisted 19.98 seconds in the 200 m , and 16 days later he ran his first legal sub-20 with 19.97 s, lowering his personal best by over half a second. He won the national 200 m title in 20.15 seconds, allowing him to compete at the London World Championships later that year. He also improved his 400 m personal best by 7/10ths of a second with 45.27 s.
Richards made his outdoor world championship debut at London 2017. Competing in the 200 m, he ran the fastest time in the heats of 20.05 s, and the next day he won his semi-final in 20.14 s. He then went on to win the bronze medal in the final; Ramil Guliyev of Turkey won gold in 20.09 s, while Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa beat Richards to the silver medal by exactly 1/1000 of a second, clocking 20.106 to 20.107 s. Richards stated that his race had been undermined when he slipped coming out of his blocks. "I tried my best not to let it affect me too much," he said. "At the turn I wasn't in contention really, so to get a medal from there is a great achievement." Three days later, he ran the second leg for Trinidad and Tobago in the men's 4 x 400 m relay, making considerable ground off the USA's Gil Roberts before handing the baton to Machel Cedenio. The team ultimately went on to win gold.[5]
In September later that year, Richards announced that he was turning professional and foregoing his final year of collegiate eligibility; he signed an endorsement deal with Adidas.[6] Despite turning pro, he remained enrolled at Alabama to continue work towards his degree.
2018–2021
In March 2018, he competed in the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, as the second leg of Trinidad and Tobago's 4 x 400 m relay. Despite being the defending champions, they ultimately came fourth. Richards tried to overcome Poland on the second leg but remained third on the second lap. Lalonde Gordon gave up on the line, giving Belgium the bronze.
Richards qualified for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics held in 2021 in Tokyo in the men’s 200-metre event, and clocked a season’s best time of 20.10 s while finishing in third place in his semifinal heat to advance to the final.[7] In the final he finished eighth in 20.39 s.[8]
2022–present
In 2022, at the World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia, he won gold in the men's 400 m event breaking Trinidad and Tobago's national indoor record as well as the championship record of 45.11 s which was formerly held by Nery Brenes of Costa Rica since 2012. Richards' time of 45.00 s broke Deon Lendore's former national record of 45.05 s. Lendore also bagged bronze medals at the two previous editions of the championships. Richards ran in tribute to Lendore's memory who died on 10 January 2022 in a car accident in Texas where he lived.[9]
At the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in United Kingdom, Richards won the 200 m title for the second time beating England's Zharnel Hughes who was previously disqualified in the previous edition of the Games for impeding Richards. Richards' time of 19.80 s broke the Commonwealth Games record of 19.97 s which was previously held by Frankie Fredericks of Namibia as it also made Richards the second fastest Trinbagonian of all time behind Ato Boldon. Later, at the Games' final event which was the men's 4 x 400 m relay, Richards anchored the Trinidad and Tobago quartet to gold in a time of 3:01:59 earning his second gold medal of the Games and the most of any Trinbagonian athlete competing at the Commonwealths. The performance of the athletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games were the best performance by any Trinbagonian team since the 1966 edition.
