Sha’Carri Richardson has been sparking a lot of controversy in recent weeks.
The once-heralded runner spent the first part of her career as a massive fan favorite, but certain bad decisions are quickly turning Richardson into something of a pariah.
The 21-year-old’s problems went from bad to worse this week when eagle-eyed fans uncovered some controversial and racist behavior on her Twitter account.
It largely speaks for itself:
“Not y’all Jamaicans still talking s*** when y’all gotta walk barefoot to your coconut stand everyday for a living,” the post says, which Richardson then proceeded to ‘Like.’
Needless to say, both Jamaicans and non-Jamaicans were taken aback by the sheer ignorance on display.
Richardson’s unlucky run began in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics, when she was forced to withdraw following a positive marijuana test. This proved to be the second-biggest story of the 2021 Games and kept her out of commission through last Friday, when she returned for the women’s 100-meter race at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Oregon.
While many were excited to see how the young star would perform in her big return, she ended up disappointing – badly. Richardson finished in ninth place with a time of 11.14 seconds. She then withdrew herself from Saturday’s 200m competition.
Despite her disappointing last few months, Richardson has remained persistently defiant.
Sha’carri Richardson after the race: “This is one race. I’m not done. Count me out if you want to … Talk all the shit you want to! You know what I can do!” pic.twitter.com/xlmJzpDd2D
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 21, 2021
“I’m not upset with myself at all,” she said after last Friday’s collapse. “This is one race. I’m not done. You know what I’m capable of. Count me out if you want to. Talk all the s–t you want because I’m here to stay. I’m not done. I’m the sixth-fastest woman in this game, ever, and can’t nobody ever take that away from me. Congratulations to the winners. Congratulations to the people that won, but they’re not done seeing me yet — period.”
Trey Lance’s GF knows how to make a first impression. https://t.co/V8FvncNUNp
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 23, 2021
Obviously race-related social media controversies are nothing new in sports. Patrick Mahomes’ better half was involved in one recently, as were Jeff Van Gundy and at least one prominent American cyclist. But the fact that it’s happening to Richardson now, on the heels of so many other recent issues, is a bad look.
Will Richardson ultimately be able to get it together and return to being the fan favorite everyone once thought she’d be? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
