Let’s set the record straight: Sha’Carri Richardson isn’t in her comeback era. Far from it, in fact. She’s spent the past three years training, competing and cementing her name in the history books. Her forthcoming Olympic debut in Paris may be a long time coming, but it certainly isn’t a rebound for Richardson, who has already been crowned the fastest woman in the world.
Richardson’s story first set the track and field industry ablaze in 2021. At the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, she ran the 100-meter dash in 10.86 seconds, positioning the US as a contender for a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Weeks later, it was revealed that Richardson had tested positive for THC, which, although legal in the state of Oregon, is prohibited by both the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency). She was issued a 30-day suspension and her qualifying times were wiped from the record. Richardson’s disqualification incited a public debate on what was widely considered an archaic set of rules with figures like Patrick Mahomes, Odell Beckham Jr. and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez weighing in on the issue. At the same time, she was privately grieving the loss of her mother, who had passed away a week before the Trials. “I apologize for the fact that I didn’t know how to control my emotions or deal with my emotions during that time,” Richardson said in an apology to fans in the aftermath. “Who am I to tell you how to cope? Who am I to tell you you’re wrong for hurting?”
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Few professional athletes in recent history have been subject to the degree of scrutiny that Richardson has endured. And yet, since it all went down, she’s only gotten faster and stronger — both physically and mentally. At the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in July, she won the 100m dash with a time of 10.82 seconds. Advancing to that year’s World Athletics Championships the following month, Richardson ran the same race in a record 10.65 seconds, securing her first world title and a #1 global ranking in the event. Over the course of her ascent, she’s been championed as an inspiration to young athletes for being unapologetically herself and demonstrating that mistakes don’t have to define you or your career.
“It’s definitely humbling for me to know that someone may look at me and feel inspired to do more,” she says. “If they see me and think ‘I could do that,’ it makes me all the more incentivized to continue to do it for myself.”
At 24 years old, Richardson is still at the start of her career, though the past few years have been something of an accelerated exercise in learning to tune out the critics. The athlete says that focusing on herself and her close ones has helped to relieve some of the pressure that comes with competing at the international level, including the mounting expectations for her to win gold in Paris.
