Allyson Felix says we should all be throwing our support behind Sha’Carri Richardson after her devastating loss at Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic.
While appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Stephen A. Smith asked Felix to send the 21-year-old athlete a few words of inspiration after “what she endured” over the past few weeks.
“I know that she’s obviously been through so much and I hope that she’s just supported. I hope people rally around her,” says Felix.”Obviously she has a great personality and she’s brought a lot of attention to the sport and I think she’ll be in the sport for a very long time.”
She continued, “I think just more than anything, for all athletes, there’s so much that goes into it. Just give her the support that she needs.”
Richardson was banned from the Olympics for 30 days after testing positive marijuana test earlier this summer.
In Tokyo, Jamaican sprinters swept the podium — but fans were eager to see how Richardson would fare against Team Jamaica.
There was much fanfare in the run-up to Saturday’s event. Richardson touted her grand return to the track.
Richardson met Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson on the track — but her re-introduction to the world did not go to plan.
She came in 9th with a time of 11.14.
While viewers were surprised by Richardson’s placement, it was her post-race interview which garnered the most criticism.
“Coming out today, it was a great return back to the sport. I wanted to be able to come and perform, having a month off, dealing with all that I was dealing with,” she told reporters.”I’m not upset at myself at all, this is one race, I’m not done. Congratulations to the winners, congratulations to the people that won, but they’re not done seeing me yet. Period,” she said as Fraser-Pryce walked by.
