Benjamin Richardson (born 19 December 2003) is a South African track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. He was born in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.[2]
Richardson attended Nelspruit Primary School, TuksSport High School, and studied at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria.[3][4][5]
In 2021, he won the silver medal in the 100 metres at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.[6] At the same competition he won gold as part of the South African 4 × 100 m relay team. With Mihlali Xhotyeni, Sinesipho Dambile, Letlhogonolo Moleyane, the relay team broke the world U20 record, running 38.51 seconds.[7]
In April 2022, he lowered his personal best over 100 metres to 10.08, Gaborone.[5] In August 2022, he won the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.[8]
In August 2023, he was the youngest member of the South African team selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.[9]
He ran as part of the South African 4 × 100 m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.[10] In June 2024, he won bronze in the 100 metres at the African Championships in Cameroon.[11] He set a new 100m personal best of 9.86 seconds and a new 200m personal best of 19.99 seconds in La Chaux-de-Fonds in July 2024.[12]
He was selected for the South African team for the 2024 Olympic Games.[13] He competed in the 100 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he reached the semi-finals.[14] Unfortunately, in the Paris 2024 200m heats, Richardson pulled his hamstring[15] and had to walk the race of the race, finishing over 30 seconds slower than his heatmates,[16] then withdraw from the repechage round[15] and the rest of the 2024 Olympics.[17]
| Grand Slam Track results[18] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slam | Race group | Event | Pl. | Time | Prize money |
| 2025 Miami Slam | Short sprints | 100 m | 6th | 9.99 | US$10,000 |
| 200 m | 7th | 20.62 | |||
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