DALLAS, TEXAS: After a glorious summer success, Sha’Carri Richardson has announced that she is all fuelled up to win big in her next race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, which is scheduled to take place between August 19 and 23. Next month, the 23-year-old American sprinter will head to Budapest to compete in the prestigious championship as the undefeated favorite in the 100-meter flat.
Richardson earned a spot at the World Athletics Championships after clocking a world-leading 10.71sec victory at the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene earlier this month. She also qualified for the 200-meter but it is unclear as to whether she will run her second event. However, on July 25, she took to her Instagram story to announce that she was all set to compete in her next race. Writing about her first season, the sprinter stated that she was happy with the process of learning. "My first real season and I'm loving the process of learning myself, pushing myself as well as knowing when to be still", she wrote, adding "Budapest UP NEXT".
Sha'Carri Richardson’s glorious feats
Richardson has undoubtedly emerged as a viable candidate to win the title at the championship after having a resoundingly successful summer this year. On July 16, she clinched a dominating victory at the Silesia Diamond League, where she out-run her rivals with a thrilling dash of 100m in 10.76 seconds. This came after her statement win at the USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on July 7. Despite having a slow start, she managed to cross the winning line in just 10.71 seconds. Earlier this year, Richardson ran the fourth fastest time in history in the women's 100m, a wind-aided 10.57 that is ineligible for records, at the Miramar Invitational meet on April 8. She also ran a 10.76 time at the Doha Diamond League, which is now the third fastest time in the world this season, as per Olympic.com.
Why was Sha'Carri Richardson banned from Tokyo Olympics?
Richardson made her international debut at the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships, where she won a gold medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay alongside Gabriele Cunningham, Rebekah Smith, and Tara Davis. Since her big debut, she has accumulated a number of significant accolades. However, she suffered a major setback in 2021 when she was barred from competing at the Tokyo Olympics. Just a few days before the Olympics, the US Anti-Doping Agency suspended her from the US team for one month after she tested positive for THC, the active chemical in marijuana.
Following the suspension, Richardson took responsibility for her actions, saying “I know what I’m supposed to do.” She later revealed on NBC’s 'TODAY' show that she ingested something with marijuana in it before she competed in the US trials in Eugene, Oregon, after being shocked to learn from a reporter that her biological mother had died. Marijuana use is legal in Oregon but it is a banned substance by World Anti-Doping Agency rules. “That sent me into ... a state of emotional panic,” she said of hearing the news about her mother. "To hear that information come from a complete stranger, it was definitely triggering. It was definitely nerve-shocking. No offense to him at all, he was just doing his job. But it put me in a state of mind of emotional panic," she continued.
