Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, track star Sha'Carri Richardson was a frontrunner, no pun intended. The public, international recognition was quick as her successes were applauded, but after testing positive for THC just ahead of the games, Richardson was suspended, leaving her out of the competition. It was learned that her mother had recently passed away and she was struggling emotionally while also preparing for the biggest athletic feat of her career, but that did not garner her any sympathy. In the blink of an eye, Richardson found herself the target of hate and ridicule.
She spoke about working even harder for the next Olympic Games, and in an interview with Teen Vogue, Richardson detailed what she learned from the experience.
"How I show myself forgiveness is honestly by acknowledging it first, acknowledging the situation for what it is, acknowledging my responsibilities in it, and talking about it to the people I feel like it impacted besides myself," she said. "When I had the entire situation of being banned from the Tokyo Games, the people who I talked to first were the people who I felt like were with me the most on the journey. I apologized to them first. I felt like they had to hold my shame as well, in a way — or my guilt, in a way."
"Acknowledging them made me feel like it was okay within myself … and [I] actually allowed myself to feel those emotions. That whole situation was a very big growing and touching experience for me and my community," she added. "That entire situation taught me to look into myself and to see that I have to be grounded, because do you see how fast they flip?"
Richardson believes that "it almost seems like" Black women "have to be superheroes," stating, "It's just irritating because you take away the abilities, you take away the speed, you take away the talent...and we're still human."
