Drugs, depression – now Paris
Sha’Carri Richardson sprints away from ghosts of the past
23.06.2024, 14:40
After her 2021 Olympic trauma, top American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson has earned the chance to make amends at the Summer Games in Paris. At the US Trials in the US state of Oregon, she is fighting against the ghosts of the past.
Overjoyed, Sha’Carri Richardson presented her medal. Her fingers with their colorful, rhinestone-studded nails tightly gripped the gold, which meant so much more than just qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Paris. Her triumph at the US Trials was “a full-circle moment,” said the sprinter. With her victory in Eugene, the 100-meter ace also earned a chance at redemption.
Richardson fought against the ghosts of the past in the US state of Oregon. Three years and three days earlier, the top athlete had qualified for the Summer Games in Tokyo at the same location. But her dream was shattered; shortly before the Olympics, she tested positive for cannabis and was banned for four weeks. She suffered from mental health problems; her biological mother had died a week earlier. To deal with the pain, she turned to the drug, which is on the WADA banned list.
Now Richardson, who was crowned 100-meter world champion in 2023, has the chance to write her name in the Olympic history books. It was a “surreal moment that I was able to show the world today” after all the mental and physical work she had done.
With her triumph in Eugene, the 24-year-old also proved that she will be one of the gold contenders at the competitions in the Stade de France. She ran the world’s best time of 10.71 seconds and was moved afterwards: “I feel like every chapter I’ve gone through in my life has prepared me for this moment.” A moment she has been waiting for for three years.