Sha’Carri Richardson Slams Olympics For Double Standard After Kamila Valieva Is Allowed to Compete: ‘Only Difference I See Is I’m a Black Young Lady’

February 14, 2022 by Monique Nicole in Sports with 0 Comments

Sha’Carri Richardson Slams Olympics For Double Standard After Kamila Valieva Is Allowed to Compete: ‘Only Difference I See Is I’m a Black Young Lady’

Sha’Carri Richardson is questioning the Olympics on what appears to be a double standard!

U.S. track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson is making headlines after she publicly questioned the Olympics on their decision to allow Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, 15, the opportunity to stay and compete after testing positive for the banned heart drug, Trimetazidine. The 21-year-old athlete is questioning this decision since she was unable to compete at the Summer Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for marijuana.

Richardson reposted and responded to a USA TODAY video clip which revealed the Court of Arbitration for Sports’ decision to allow Valieva to compete in this year’s Winter Olympics. Richardson wrote,

“Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady.”

Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady. https://t.co/JtUfmp3F8L

— Sha’Carri Richardson (@itskerrii) February 14, 2022

Sha’Carri Richardson

Reportedly, the Court of Arbitration for Sports said because Kamila Valieva is 15-years-old, she is considered a “protected person” and therefore has different rules than adult athletes.

Kamila Valieva

As previously reported, Sha’Carri Richardson was slated to run the 100-meter Olympic race last summer but was suspended for 30 days after testing positive for marijuana. She said she used marijuana to cope with her mother’s death, which Sha’Carri found out while at the Olympic trials. The heartbreaking news and traumatic delivery, as well as the overall pressure she was under at the time, influenced her decision to smoke weed.

Understandably, this recent decision caused Richardson to have some concerns. In a string of tweets, she called out the olympics and expressed her displeasure over what appears to be a double standard. She wrote,

“It’s all in the skin…Btw THC definitely is not a performance enhance!!!!”

She continued by comparing her situation to Valieva’s,

“Failed [drug test] in December and the world just now know however my resulted was posted within a week and my name & talent was slaughtered to the people….Not one BLACK athlete has been about to compete with a case going on, I don’t care what they say!!!”

Sarah Hirshland, the CEO for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, issued a statement saying the organization was “disappointed by the message this decision sends” in regard to the ruling by CAS: