Sha’Carri Richardson has been licking shots at whoever has an opinion on her trials and tribulations since testing positive for marijuana and being suspended from competition before the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
She’s had her share of supporters and detractors.
What’s Next For Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson After Failed Drug Test?
Some seasoned veterans of the track & field game have offered her advice and support, but she’s let it be known she doesn’t want to hear it.
Screenshot @carrrichardson_
The GOAT Usain Bolt is the latest elite athlete to offer some advice to Sha’Carri Richardson. But his tone wasn’t that of a big brother.
The world’s fastest man recently told the New York Post that Richardson should stop trash-talking and focus her energies on advanced training, dominating her sport and backing up her unfiltered words
“I would tell Sha’Carri to train harder and to be focused and not say too much … If you talk that big talk you have to back it up,” Bolt said. “So just train hard and focus on that and try to come back do it and then talk about it.”
Bolt’s comments come nearly two months after Sha’Carri’s last-place finish in the 100-meter dash at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon and her spirited post-race interview.
But If she’s not sweating it why should he?
Social media has been really fueling the rivalry between Jamaica’s medal winning runners and Sha’Carri.
Most athletes have no problem with someone talking junk if they can back it up but nobody likes wolf tickets being sold on the elite stage.
Bolt said he and his fellow Jamaican athletes weren’t impressed by Richardson’s comments. It is what it actually infuriated them and motivates them further.
“Jamaicans were vexed because she was talking a lot of s**t before the actual race, it is just one of those things,” he relayed to The Post. “Jamaicans don’t like when people talk s**t about us because we are a very proud people. So if you talk about us we are gonna want you to back it up. It definitely gave those women the extra push [to win.]”
Bolt inferred that talking smack and falling short of expectations is common in American athletes.
He once had a verbal war going with American sprinter Justin Gatlin who spoke a good game, created a marketable rivalry but finished second to Bolt in the 2016 Olympics.
“That was my thing with Justin Gatlin — because he’s the one that was always talking — so that gives me that energy like, ‘All right you think you’re gonna win let’s go!’ So it does give you that extra boost to wanna beat that person,” Bolt recalled.
The fact that track legends feel compelled to offer Sha’Carri advice shows that they consider her a threat. She doesn’t want them to start considering her a joke, so hopefully she takes The GOAT’s advice and starts to mature and focus on cultivating her talents and reaching her potential.
Not sure what Richardson’s response will be, but if she’s smart she’ll just chill. Her actions have made these battles with the Jamaican team very contentious and provided extra motivation that Bolt referred too.
Best thing for her is to let her legs do the talking. She’s set up for a huge comeback in 2022.
