Let Sha'Carri Richardson Run
(Photo by Steph Chambers / Getty Images via nbcnews)
If you haven’t heard of Sha’Carri Richardson by now chances are you’re either living under a rock or you’ve made the bold life-decision to stay off social media. The 21-year-old track star was originally in headlines for finishing first place with an impressive 10.86 second 100 meter sprint at the Olympic qualifiers last month, but now she finds herself in the media for all the wrong reasons.
On July 2, Richardson tested positive for chemicals found in marijuana (thc). The United States Anti-Doping Agency announced that as a result of Richardson’s positive drug test, her results at the Olympic trials are invalid and she will be sentenced to a 30-day suspension from all competition.
Unfortunately, this means Richardson will be unable to compete in the 100 meter sprint at this summer’s Olympic Games.
Bull. Shit.
Now that the nitty gritty details are laid out, I can explain to you why this is absolutely atrocious. Whoever decided weed belongs under the United States Doping Agency’s jurisdiction needs to be put behind bars immediately.
Before I get any comments saying “Rules are rules she did it to herself,” you’re right. You are 100% correct by believing that she knew the rules and still made a decision to smoke, putting her career in jeopardy. BUT… and this is an astronomical but… The rule shouldn’t be the rule in the first place.
Is weed going to make these runners any faster? No. Is weed going to increase their stamina or lung capacity in any way? Nope. Can weed help with the recovery process and muscle soreness? Sure, but how does that affect her performance on the track? It doesn’t. If weed made people run faster, half of the United States population would have been at the Olympic qualifiers.
To go even further, Sha’Carri Richardson’s usage took place in Oregon, where recreational marijuana is LEGAL. I understand the Olympics is a different beast altogether, but other sports are starting to come around loosening their marijuana restrictions. Hell, even the NFL changed their policy to stop drug testing players during the offseason starting on April 20. Coincidence? I think not.
I’m not saying the Olympics or USA Track and Field needs to have a complete policy revision, but I will never understand why in this day and age weed is still categorized in the same tier as performance enhancing drugs and steroids. It’s ridiculous.
Richardson owned up to her actions, stating “I know what I'm supposed to do and what I'm allowed not to do, and I still made that decision. But I'm not making an excuse or looking for any empathy in my case.” in an interview with the Today Show.
She claims that she used marijuana to cope with her biological mothers death in which she first heard the news via a reporter at an event. Regardless of why or how she smoked, it doesn’t matter. Sha’Carri hit the nail on the head when she said “Who am I to tell you how to cope?”
As you can probably tell by now, I feel very passionately about this issue, and even though she isn’t seeking empathy I can’t help but feel a little bad for her. Considering sprinter’s careers aren’t usually the longest, this decision may have cost her roughly a third of her career.
She was on top of the world with a legitimate chance of bringing home the gold, but it was all stripped away thanks to some bogus outdated criteria. The cherry on top with this whole situation is that with Richardson’s original 30-day ban, she would technically be able to compete in the 4x100 meter relays as they take place later in the games. Unfortunately, USA Track and Field left her off the official roster list despite the potential loophole.
With all that being said, I’m sure we will see Sha’Carri Richardson at the next Olympics or hear about her breaking a world record sometime in the near future.