Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson is representing Team USA at the .
Her appearance at the Olympics concludes a three-year journey that began before the Tokyo Games, when Richardson —a banned substance under World Anti-Doping Agency Rules—after making a strong impression on the American sports scene with a remarkable performance at the Olympic trials in 2021.
Here’s a detailed explanation of why Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from the Tokyo Olympics and the impact that setback had on the athlete.
Why was Sha’Carri Richardson suspended?
In June 2021, Richardson secured her spot in the Tokyo Olympics by winning the 100-m sprint at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a time of 10.86 seconds. However, days later, it was revealed that she had tested positive for cannabis use.
Richardson acknowledged using cannabis and on July 2, 2021, accepted a one-month suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Her suspension was lifted two days before the women’s 100-m event was scheduled at the Tokyo Olympics, but her Olympic qualifying results were revoked, preventing her from participating in the race.
How did people react to Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension?
The suspension sparked widespread protests in the United States, where the legalization of marijuana for both medical and recreational use has become increasingly common. Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum, like Florida Republican Representative and New York Democrat , spoke out in favor of Richardson’s participation in the Olympics. Despite these efforts, the protests were unsuccessful. (The World Anti-Doping Agency in 2022 revisited cannabis’ status as a banned substance and upheld the policy, citing that the substance still posed a health risk to athletes and violated “the spirit of sport.”)
President Biden joined the conversation days after the ban was imposed. “The rules are the rules and everybody knows what the rules were going in,” he said. “Whether they should remain the rules is a different issue, but the rules are the rules.”
What has Sha’Carri Richardson said about her suspension?
The athlete explained that she smoked marijuana to cope with the news of her biological mother’s death. Richardson stated that she learned of her mother’s passing from a reporter during an interview prior to the trials.
“I want to take responsibility for my actions,” she told on July 2, 2021. “I know what I did, I know what I’m supposed to do… and I still made that decision.”
In a with the same platform, she shared her perspective on the setback: “It was a moment of bitterness, but at the same time it was sweet because it just gives me more time, it gives me more to show the world that I’m here to stay. And it just guarantees that I’m going to be here just a little bit longer in the game, but definitely watching it made me want to push forward and just grow from that.”
Richardson’s current philosophy, as highlighted in her , is: “I’m not back. I’m better.”
In an interview with , published July 2024, Richardson shared that she is approaching each race with a focused mindset.
“It’s like chess,” Richardson said. “Every move you make is leading to checkmate. So the Olympics, okay, that’s checkmate, that’s the moment an athlete dreams about. But every race I have leading up to that matters too—that’s my opportunity to grow, so by the time I’m on the track in Paris, I know I’ve done my trial and error.”
She added that concentrating on the present helps alleviate some of the pressure associated with high-stakes events like the Olympics. “Because if all I’m doing is looking ahead, then I can’t be where I need to be. Which is here, now.”