Sha’Carri Richardson Calls Out Olympics for Hypocrisy

When Sha’Carri Richardson couldn’t compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics due to a positive drug test, she took the missed opportunity like a winner, but given the current Kamila Valieva controversy, she’s seeing things differently.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva is being allowed to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics despite having tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medicine, in December. The Court of Arbitration for Sport made the decision Monday not to suspend the 15-year-old because she is a minor, and “preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances,” CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said in a statement, per The Associated Press.

The situation is similar to Richardson’s, except for one thing: While Valieva is being absolved, Richardson was not.

“Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady,” the American sprinter tweeted yesterday.

In 2021, Richardson secured her spot on Team USA when she finished first in the 100-meter dash for the Olympic Trials. She was the favorite to win gold at the Olympics, until she was suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency over a failed drug test for marijuana.

“Not one BLACK athlete has been about to compete with a case going on, I don’t care what they say!!!” Richardson wrote on Twitter yesterday, noting that she was suspended immediately after her positive test, while Valieva’s case came to light months after her positive test, and she was still allowed to compete.

“Failed in December and the world just now know however my resulted was posted within a week and my name & talent was slaughtered to the people,” she wrote.

Richardson’s 2021 suspension sparked outrage within the international sports world, as many noted that marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug and would not have given Richardson an advantage in the race.

“Btw THC definitely is not a performance enhance!!!!” Richardson tweeted on Valentine’s Day after learning of the CAS’s decision on Valieva. “It’s all in the skin.”

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