USA Track and Field (USATF) banned sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson for testing positive for marijuana which will cost her a chance at running on the relay team in Tokyo, in addition to her spot in the 100m individual race. Due to her positive test, she won at Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, last month and the spot that went with for Tokyo in the 100m.
She is suspended for 30-days which will end before the start of the relays on August 5 that created her a chance to win a medal as part of the 4×100 relay team. But Sha’Carri’s name was not in the 130-person roster USATF sent out. The federation had two discretionary picks beyond the top four finishers in the 100m final at trials.
Though, they did not offer a spot to Sha’Carri, who was expected to challenge for Olympic gold. When Richardson was asked about that how she was handling the news, her agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, 21-year-old responded, “We haven’t spoken about it at all. It was actually not a topic we focused on.”
The American President Joe Biden said in a proud way, “Whether they should remain the rules is a different issue, but the rules are the rules.” He was happy with the way Richardson handled her ban. While Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Jamie Raskin send a letter to both the U.S and world anti-doping agencies urging them to take their decision back.
