This time, Sha’Carri Richardson is just blazing fast.
Richardson, the 23-year-old American sprint sensation who was excluded from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 over a controversial failed drug test for marijuana, is back lighting up tracks while sporting a less-styled look and grateful demeanor.
“I’m completely happy that I’m here, healthy, but more necessary, completely happy,” Richardson said after winning the 100-meter dash against a stacked field within the Diamond League season opener in Doha, Qatar last Friday. “I discovered my peace back on the track, and I’m not letting anything or anybody take that anymore.”
Richardson won the 100 in 10.76 seconds, the fastest time on this planet this yr.
In line with Olympic Talk, Richardson is the one U.S. woman to interrupt 10.8 seconds for the reason that start of 2017, and he or she has done it five times, becoming the second woman from any country — after Marion Jones, who later was tied to performance-enhancing drugs — to interrupt 10.8 seconds on five occasions before turning 24 years old (the legendary Florence Griffith-Joyner ran sub-10.8 4 times in her entire profession, including the world record of 10.49 seconds set on the 1988 Olympics).
“Y’all say I’m back,” Richardson said going into the Doha meet. “I’m not back. I’m higher.”
In 2021, Richardson won the U.S. Olympic Trials within the 100 meters, but was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana, which is banned in competition — the meet was held in Oregon, where marijuana is legal.
During an appearance on the “Today Show” that July, Richardson said her biological mother died the week before her race, and her drug use was the results of being “blinded by emotion, blinded by bad news, blinded by just hurting, hiding hurt truthfully. … I used to be just attempting to hide my pain.”
In 2022, Richardson turned in a disastrous performance on the U.S. championships, failing to qualify for the 100-meter or 200-meter finals, and sounded off afterward.
“I’m coming to talk, not only on my behalf but on all athletes’ behalves, that once you guys do interviews, y’all should respect athletes more,” Richardson said within the mixed zone. “Y’all should understand whether or not they’re coming from winning, whether or not they’re losing, regardless of the case could also be. Athletes deserve far more respect than when y’all just come and throw cameras into their faces.”
In January of this yr, per a post on her Instagram, Richardson was kicked off a flight following an altercation with a flight attendant.
The subsequent major milestone for Richardson on the track is July’s U.S. outdoor championships; the highest three in that 100-meter race qualify for August’s world championships in Budapest.
