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 happy that I’m here, healthy, but more important, happy,” Richardson said after winning the 100-meter dash against a stacked field in the Diamond League season opener in Doha, Qatar last Friday. “I found 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 in the world this year.
According to Olympic Talk, Richardson is the only U.S. woman to break 10.8 seconds since the start of 2017, and 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 break 10.8 seconds on five occasions before turning 24 years old (the legendary Florence Griffith-Joyner ran sub-10.8 four times in her entire career, including the world record of 10.49 seconds set at the 1988 Olympics).
“Y’all say I’m back,” Richardson said going into the Doha meet. “I’m not back. I’m better.”
In 2021, Richardson won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 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 result of being “blinded by emotion, blinded by bad news, blinded by just hurting, hiding hurt honestly. … I was just trying to hide my pain.”
In 2022, Richardson turned in a disastrous performance at the U.S. championships, failing to qualify for the 100-meter or 200-meter finals, and sounded off afterward.
“I’m coming to speak, not just on my behalf but on all athletes’ behalves, that when you guys do interviews, y’all should respect athletes more,” Richardson said in the mixed zone. “Y’all should understand whether they’re coming from winning, whether they’re losing, whatever the case may be. Athletes deserve way more respect than when y’all just come and throw cameras into their faces.”
In January of this year, per a post on her Instagram, Richardson was kicked off a flight following an altercation with a flight attendant.
The next major milestone for Richardson on the track is July’s U.S. outdoor championships; the top three in that 100-meter race qualify for August’s world championships in Budapest.
