Why was Sha’Carri Richardson suspended from the Tokyo Olympics?

Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson represents Team USA at the Paris Summer Olympics.

His appearance at the Olympics ends a three-year ordeal that began before the Tokyo Games, when Richardson tested positive for cannabis – a substance banned under World Anti-Doping Agency rules – after bursting into American sporting consciousness with a stellar performance at the Olympic Trials in 2021.

Here’s a detailed look at why Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from the Tokyo Olympics and the impact this setback had on the athlete.

Why was Sha’Carri Richardson suspended?

In June 2021, Richardson qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, winning the 100 m dash at the US Olympic Trials with a time of 10.86 seconds. But days later, it was revealed that she had tested positive for cannabis use.

Richardson admitted to the use and on July 2, 2021, accepted a one-month suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Her suspension was lifted two days before the women’s 100m event was scheduled to take place at the Tokyo Olympics, but her Olympic qualification results were annulled, leaving her unable to participate in the race.

see more information: Sha’Carri Richardson’s Marijuana Suspension Defies Common Sense

How did people react to Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension?

The suspension sparked protests in the United States, where the legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use has become widespread. Politicians on both sides of the divide, like Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz and New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defended Richardson’s inclusion in the Olympics. But the protests were in vain. (The World Anti-Doping Agency in 2022 re-examined the status of cannabis as a prohibited substance and upheld the policy, citing that the substance still posed a health risk to athletes and violated “the spirit of sport.”)

President Biden heavy in the discussion days after the ban was implemented. “The rules are the rules and everyone knows what the rules are,” he said. “Whether they should continue to be the rules is a different question, but the rules are the rules.”

What did Sha’Carri Richardson say about her suspension?

The athlete said she smoked marijuana to deal with the news of her biological mother’s death. Richardson said she learned the news of her mother’s death from a reporter in an interview before the trials.

“I want to take responsibility for my actions,” she said the TODAY program on July 2, 2021. “I know what I did, I know what I should do… and yet I made this decision.”

On a follow-up interview with the same platform, she said about her setback: “It was a bitter moment, but at the same time it was sweet because it just gives me more time, it gives me more to show the world that I’m here to stay. And it just ensures that I’ll be here a little longer in the game, but definitely watching it made me want to move forward and grow from it.

Richardson’s current mantra, as emphasized in his Instagram profile bio, is: “I didn’t come back. I’m better.”

In an interview with Voguepublished in July 2024, Richardson said he is taking each race as it comes.

“It’s like chess,” Richardson said. “Every move you make leads to checkmate. So the Olympics, okay, that’s checkmate, that’s the moment an athlete dreams of. But every race I have before that is also important – it’s my opportunity to grow, so when I’m on the track in Paris I know I’ve done my trial and error.”

She added that focusing on the present helps take some of the pressure off a high-stakes performance like the Olympics. “Because if all I do is look ahead, then I can’t be where I need to be. Which is here, now.