Sha’Carri Richardson will get a chance to test her skills against the world’s best. After being banned from the 2021 Tokyo Olympic games after testing positive for cannabis, the star sprinter is set to represent the United States against Jamaica’s elite trio.
Fresh from their clean sweep in Tokyo’s 100-meter dash, Richardson, 21, will line up against Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson in the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday, Aug. 22. The race will take place at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.
Thompson-Herah recently broke Florence “Flo-Jo” Joyner’s 33 year-old Olympic record in Tokyo.Richardson became a viral sensation after being crowned “the Fastest Woman in America.” She qualified for the Summer Games after dominating the 100-meter dash with a 10.86 in the Olympic Trials, just days after the passing of her biological mother. She admitted to using cannabis as a grieving mechanism.
Her cannabis use invalidated her victory and she was banned for one month on June 28. Following the ban, Richardson received public support from a slew of entertainers and athletes including Drake, Patrick Mahomes and Lamelo Ball. Ball, the NBA’s 2021 Rookie of the Year, had one of the more memorable reactions to Richardson’s ban: “if it ain’t crack let her run track.”
