Benjamin Richardson (born 19 December 2003) is an Irish track and field athlete who competes in 100 m and 200 m sprint events.[2] In 2025, Richardson switched his sporting allegiance from South Africa to Ireland, his country of birth.[3]
Richardson was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was adopted and raised by his grandparents from Ghana, grandfather Osam and grandmother Beatrice when he was only 3 months old and brought to South Africa.[4] Osam was a career politician and moved to Mbombela in South Africa in 1987.
In 2021, he won the silver medal in the 100 metres at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.[8] 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.[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.[12] In June 2024, he won bronze in the 100 metres at the African Championships in Cameroon.[13] 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.[14]
He was selected for the South African team for the 2024 Olympic Games.[15] He competed in the 100 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he reached the semi-finals.[16] Unfortunately, in the Paris 2024 200m heats, Richardson pulled his hamstring[17] and had to walk the rest of the race, finishing over 30 seconds slower than his heatmates,[18] then withdraw from the repechage round[17] and the rest of the 2024 Olympics.[19]
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