Sha’Carri Richardson Comes In Dead Last Against Olympic Medalists

Sha’Carri Richardson Comes In Dead Last Against Olympic Medalists

Sha’Carri Richardson finished in ninth and last place during the 100-meter race at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon on Saturday. She was also scheduled to race in the 200-meter race but withdrew.

She spoke in an interview after the 100-meter race and stressed how she’s “not done.”

“I wanted to be able to come and perform having a month off… Not upset at myself at all. This is one race. I’m not done. You know what I’m capable of,” Richardson said.

“Count me out if you want to. Talk all the s— you want, cause I’m here to stay. I’m not done. I’m the sixth-fastest woman in this game, ever. And can’t nobody ever take that from me. Congratulations to the winners. Congratulations to the people that won, but they’re not done seeing me yet. Period.”

VIA ESPN

Richardson was defeated by the Jamaican women who swept all three medals in the 100-meter race in the Tokyo Olympics – Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson. All three Jamaican women finished in first, second, and third place in the 100-meter race at the Prefontaine Classic. She was also supposed to compete in the 200-meter race against Allyson Felix, the most decorated American track athlete of all time with 11 Olympic medals, and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, Gabby Thomas. But when the announcers named every woman who competed in the 200-meter race, the announcers left out Sha’Carri Richardson’s name and didn’t explain why Lane 1 was empty.

Sha’Carri Richardson was ready to compete in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo after she won the 100-meter race in 10.86 seconds during the U.S. Olympic trials in June. But her dream of competing in the Olympics was shattered when she failed a drug test, which resulted in a one-month suspension. She opened up in an exclusive interview on TODAY last month and revealed how she used marijuana after her biological mother suddenly passed away before the U.S. Olympic trials.

“I know what I did,” Richardson said.

“I know I’m responsible, and I’m here to take what it is that I have to take from the choices that I decided to make. You can’t run from reality, it’s still going to be there no matter how long you choose to ignore it, no matter how long you choose to think it’s going to go away.”

VIA TODAY

Sha’Carri Richardson’s honesty about her marijuana use with her biological mother’s death also pushes the importance of creating more conversations about the mental health stigma athletes face.

“With this first race coming back, it’s a thank you, because at the end of the day I did make a mistake but that doesn’t take away from my talent, that doesn’t take away from who I am,” Richardson said.

VIA TODAY

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