Just two weeks ago, the world was in awe of the Black girl from Texas with the technicolor orange hair who blazed down the track to become the fastest woman in the world with a 10.86-second finish.
Sha'Carri Richardson, who reminded everyone of track legend Flo-Jo, made her first Olympic team with that dominant 100-meter performance and had the world at her feet.
Today, instead of the track sensation talking about being the gold medal favorite in the women's 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, Sha'Carri is answering questions about her month-long suspension after testing positive for marijuana. The positive test also strips her of her world record, fastest woman in the world title, and a chance to compete in the 100m dash.
On Friday, Sha'Carri admitted to using marijuana as a way to cope with finding out that her mother unexpectedly died during an interview with a reporter. She called the incident "triggering."
Today, Sha'Carri did an interview with the Today Show, to make sure people understood that her suspension had nothing to do with steroids and apologized if she let anyone down.
There are two arguments going on surrounding this suspension:
It's dumb for Sha'Carri to have her career potentially ruined over marijuana, especially since she was coping with the death of her mother.
She knew marijuana was a banned substance, so people should be mad at her, not the Anti-Doping Agency.
What side are you on?
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I see it both ways. Weed isn’t a big deal but she also knew better. I’m hoping she can still compete and I’m rooting for her no matter how it turns out. I have to remind myself that the Olympics is a world organization and just because it’s viewed one way here, doesn’t mean the same for other places. Also I hate the comparisons people are trying to use with Phelps, thats apples to oranges. I love love that she humbly held herself accountable and didn’t lose her Nike support!
Yeah she knew the rules but I feel like they should give her a 2nd chance. Weed isn’t a big deal.