ShaCarri Richardson MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images
Sha’Carri Richardson triumphed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, securing her first Olympic medal in the 100-meter final race on Saturday, August 3.
She placed second, earning the silver medal with 10.87. She finished 0.15 behind Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, who took home the gold. Team USA’s Melissa Jefferson, who is Richardson’s training partner, earned the bronze medal, finishing at 10.92. Jefferson is also a first-time Olympic medalist.
The 24-year-old sprinter’s victory comes three years after she was benched from the Tokyo Olympics for testing positive for marijuana use. In July 2021, Richardson apologized for what led to her getting disqualified.
“I just want to take responsibility for my actions, I know what I did,” she said on the Today show at the time. “I know what I’m supposed to do and what I’m allowed not to do, and I still made that decision. But I’m not making an excuse or looking for any empathy in my case.”
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Richardson explained that she used the drug to cope with the “very heavy” news that her biological mother had died.
“People don’t understand what it’s like to have to — alright, people do,” she continued. “We all have our different struggles. We all have our different things we deal with, but to put on a face, to have to go in front of the world and put on a face and hide my pain, I don’t know. … Who am I to tell you how to cope when you’re dealing with pain? Or you’re dealing with a struggle that you’ve never experienced before? Or that you never thought you’d have to deal with?”
Richardson asked for understanding at the time. “As much as I’m disappointed, I know that when I step on the track I don’t represent myself, I represent a community that has shown me great support, great love,” she said. “I’m human. We’re human. … Don’t judge me because I am human. I’m you, I just happen to run a little faster.”
Despite the setback, Richardson once again set her sights on the Olympics this year. In the August issue of Vogue, she reflected on her journey to Paris.
“You keep showing up,” she told the outlet. “No matter what. Most people, they only think of track every four years. The Olympics, that’s all there is — those few seconds on TV. But for me, track is my life on a day-to-day basis. Everything I do — what I eat, what I drink, if I stay up too late — it’s all reflected on the track. Every choice. That’s what the world doesn’t see.”
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Richardson emphasized that her 2021 debacle would not define her as she prepared to finally compete in the Olympics, noting, “I’m not back, I’m better.”
“I don’t just mean I’m a better runner,” she added. “It’s beyond that. I’m better at being Sha’Carri. I’m better at being myself.”
While Richardson insisted that track and field is a “24/7 lifestyle” for her, she hoped her dedication would pay off. “Every time you step on the track, it’s a validation of the time you’ve put in, the sacrifices you make on the daily,” she said. “When I get on the blocks, it’s about getting the job done. I know there’s joy at the other end, at the finish line. But I also know I’ve got to earn that happiness.”
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Although Richardson put the 2021 incident behind her, she kept her entire path to the Olympics in focus in the weeks ahead of the competition.
“Every time I step onto the track, I think of all those moments when I was younger — all those feelings are still with me, I’m just that little girl grown up,” she told Vogue. “It’s almost like a flashback journey, everything that brought me to that point. All the grind, all the sacrifice. And there’s a feeling of, this moment is special because all of that, the good, the bad, it’s brought me here. And I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
