2000-present
Who Is Sha’Carri Richardson?
Sha’Carri Richardson is an American track athlete, two-time Olympic medalist, and two-time world champion. She was born and raised in Dallas, where she began running at age 9 and became a successful sprinter in middle school and high school. Richardson then attended Louisiana State University for one year before turning professional in 2019. After a positive drug test prevented her from competing in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Richardson’s career dipped until she became the “world’s fastest woman” after winning the 100-meter dash at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in record time. The runner has also gained attention for her bold fashion and beauty aesthetics, garnering comparisons to the late track star Florence Joyner.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Sha’Carri Richardson
BORN: March 25, 2000
BIRTHPLACE: Dallas, Texas
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries
Early Life: Hometown and Mother
Sha’Carri Richardson was born on March 25, 2000, in Dallas. Growing up, Richardson didn’t have a relationship with her biological parents. Instead, she was raised by her grandmother, Betty Harp, and aunt Shayaria Richardson, whom she calls her mother.
In 2021, Sha’Carri announced her biological mother’s death and declined to discuss her mom in detail beyond saying, “I am grateful for her giving me life, bringing me into this world.” She hasn’t publicly spoken or acknowledged who her father is.
Richardson was inspired to start running at a young age. Shayaria was a successful track and field runner, and at age 9, Sha’Carri found her mother’s medals from her high school running career. “My grandmother made [my mother] a big plaque full of medals, and I saw it one day and was like, ‘I want that. I want you to bring me one, Granny.’ And [my grandmother] was like, ‘Well you got to do something to get some medals!’” Richardson told Teen Vogue in 2022. “And honestly from then on it was just like, ‘If you want to do something, if you want to be great, you got to put your all into it.’”
An active child whom Shayaria described as a tomboy, Richardson spent her time at cheer and dance practices, playing football with neighborhood boys, and of course, running. “I knew right from the start that we were going to be in it for the long haul. She was committed. I would get home from work and she would ask me to take her to the track,” Shayaria told D Magazine.
High School and College
Richardson began competing in track races during middle school, where she won regional and state championships. In 2016, she gained national recognition as a sophomore at David W. Carter High School in Dallas when she became the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics Champion in the 100 meters. In 2017, Richardson earned a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the USA Track and Field (USATF) National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships.
Richardson committed to running at Louisiana State University in 2017. After graduating high school the following year, Richardson was the No. 1-ranked sprint recruit in the country.
As a freshman at Louisiana State University, Richardson won her first NCAA title in 2019 and set a new collegiate record for the 100-meter dash, recording a time of 10.75 seconds. With a record under her belt, Richardson decided to withdraw from the university and set her sights even higher. She made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) in June 2019.
Professional Running Career
Richardson became a professional runner in 2019. That same year, she signed a contract deal with Nike. She specializes in the 100- and 200-meter dash.
Disqualification from the 2020 Olympics
In June 2021, Richardson qualified for the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics after she won the 100-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field. After crossing the finish line and running into the stands, she shared an emotional moment with her grandmother. “My grandmother is my heart. My grandmother is my superwoman,” Richardson said. “Honestly, that was one of my biggest goals in life: to have her see me compete in one of the highest levels and be successful.”
However, that July, results came back from a routine drug test performed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on the day of her Olympic Trials race: Richardson had tested positive for marijuana. She was subsequently banned from competition for one month and disqualified from competing at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021. Richardson shared that her marijuana use occurred at the time of her biological mother’s death in June 2021 to help her cope with the loss.
“I want to take responsibility for my actions,” Richardson said on the Today show. “I know what I did. I know what I’m supposed to do and am allowed not to do, and I still made that decision. I’m not making an excuse. I’m not looking for any empathy in my case.”
Comeback and Record 100m Time
Richardson’s comeback following her Olympics disqualification was slow. She finished in a disappointing last place in the 100-meter event at the Prefontaine Classic in August 2021. In June 2022, she also failed to reach the semifinals at the USATF Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter and 200-meter events. As a result, she was absent at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Finally, in June 2023, Richardson began to find her footing at the front of the pack once more. She won the 100-meter sprint at the USATF Outdoor Championships with a time of 10.82 seconds. “Now, I stand here with you again, and I’m ready, mentally, physically and emotionally,” she said in a post-race interview. “I’m here to say, ‘I’m not back, I’m better.’”
Her success continued at the 2023 World Athletics Championships that August. She won the 100-meter sprint with a championship record time of 10.65 seconds, took third place in the 200-meter sprint, and anchored the women’s 4x100m relay for another first place win.
“I feel amazing,” Richardson told Eurosport. “I feel like hard work pays off. I’ve been dedicating myself. I’ve been keeping my faith strong this season and just believing and knowing whatever you practice is what you put forward, and I’m grateful.”
Her win in the 100-meter sprint earned her the title for the current “fastest woman in the world.” Elsewhere, Richardson was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for 2024.
2024 Olympics
Richardson officially completed her comeback at the U.S. Olympic Team Track and Field Trials in June 2024 by winning the 100-meter dash in 10.71 seconds to earn a spot on Team USA for the Paris Summer Olympics. Recording the fastest time in the world of the year, she immediately became the favorite to win gold in the event during the Games. Richardson was also expected to qualify for the 200-meter dash as part of the American squad, but one week later, she finished fourth and missed the chance to compete in the race in Paris.
Come August, Richardson won her heat race in the women’s 100-meter before placing second in her semi-final heat behind St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred, foreshadowing the final race to come. Richardson got a slow start off the line as Alfred shot out like lightening. The American sprinter made up ground but ultimately couldn’t overtake Alfred, who took gold and won the race by 0.15 seconds, as Richardson earned silver—her first Olympic medal.
The Texas native then won her first gold medal after steering Team USA to victory in the women’s 4x100-meter relay with a time of 41.78 seconds. Richardson anchored the team, finishing the last stretch of the race with a 10.09-second leg.
Fashion Icon
Richardson is known for her unique personal style and beauty aesthetic. Her bold fashion choices on the track have included catsuits and other eye-catching racing attire. Her personal style has been compared to fellow sprinter Florence Joyner, who won five Olympic medals in the 1980s.
“I really just wanted people to know that you can be yourself,” she told NBC following a race in 2022. “That means you wanna be sexy, you wanna be cute, you wanna express yourself in ways that nobody has before? Don’t let that stop you.”
Richardson also wears colorful wigs, makeup, and nail art during her races. She loves fake eyelashes, preferably mink. “You know how they say the eyes are the windows to the soul? Well, the lashes are the window wipers,” she told Vogue.
At the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in September 2023, Richardson made headlines for competing in her natural hair. “I told [my coach] that if I go 10.6 [seconds in the 100-meter dash], I’ll wear my natural hair,” she said. “When I became the world champion and set a championship record, I ran a 10.65. So, I had to pull out the natural.”
Off the track, Richardson has attended the Met Gala and, in February 2024, became the face of a joint campaign for Nike and Jacquemus, a French luxury brand.
Ex-Girlfriend
Richardson has publicly announced that she’s bisexual. She previously dated Jamaican hurdler Janeek Brown. The couple broke up in 2022 after Richardson accused Brown of abuse.
Richardson shared on Instagram: “I was in a relationship with a Jamaican athlete that never cared about me from jump. I was abused and stole from yet protected her from the judgment of her country and family while they dragged me. I had to deal with [homophobia] and so much more that I’m still healing from.”
In an interview on Instagram Live, Brown confirmed Richardson’s accusation: “I was abusive once that there’s physical evidence of. And we moved on, and even after then I was trying to move on from that, we still got nowhere.”
Quotes
- I never wanted to settle with just being okay, just being good. I want to make sure that when I leave this sport, that I put everything on the table and that I accomplished everything that I was called to do.
- A quote I like is “Be who you are and be great at it.”
- I just want the world to know that I’m THAT girl.
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Emily Shiffer has worked as a writer for over 10 years, covering everything from health and wellness to entertainment and celebrities. She previously was on staff at SUCCESS, Men's Health, and Prevention magazines. Her freelance writing has been featured in Women's Health, Runner's World, PEOPLE, and more. Emily is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she majored in magazine journalism at the Medill School of Journalism and minored in musicology. Currently residing in Charleston, South Carolina, Emily enjoys instructing barre, surfing, and long walks on the beach with her miniature Dachshund, Gertrude.
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