Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100-meter title Friday night at the U.S. championships in Eugene, Oregon, two years after being suspended for a positive marijuana test. She won with a time of 10.82 seconds, beating out Brittany Brown (10.90) and Tamari Davis (10.99).
Sha’Carri Richardson breaks the tape to win the Women’s 100m Final during the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on July 7, 2023, in Eugene, Oregon. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Richardson won the 100 meters at the Olympic trials in 2021 but was suspended for one month after testing positive for a chemical found in marijuana.
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“I’m ready mentally, physically and emotionally, and I’m here to stay,” Richardson said in a TV interview after her victory on Friday. “I’m not back, I’m better.”
Next month, Richardson will compete at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Richardson appeared on “TODAY” in July 2021, following news of the one-month suspension, and apologized. She explained that the loss of her mother before the trials had hurt and upset her.
Sha’Carri Richardson reacts after winning the Women’s 100m Final during the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on July 7, 2023, in Eugene, Oregon. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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“…Being in that position in my life, finding out something like that … something that I would say is probably one of the biggest things that have impacted me positively and negatively in my life when it comes to dealing with the relationship I had with my mother. So, that definitely was a very heavy topic on me and people don’t understand what it’s like to have to … or people do, and we all have our different struggles, and we all have our different things we deal with,” Richardson said. “But to put on a face and to have to go on in front of the world and put on a face and hide my pain … who am I to tell you how to cope when you’re dealing with a pain, or you’re dealing with a struggle you never experienced before or that you never thought you would have to deal with. Who am I to tell you how to cope? Who am I to tell you that you’re wrong for hurting?
“Leading up to that, dealing with my mental health leading up to the Games, every time stepping onto the track expecting to be a record-breaking time or something like that. Just with that pressure in itself was just a whole ‘nother thing which actually was the first full professional career, my first full professional circuit this year due to the pandemic.”
Sha’Carri Richardson stands on the podium after winning the Women’s 100m Final during the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on July 7, 2023, in Eugene, Oregon. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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Richardson ran a 10.71 on Thursday in the opening heats before Shericka Jackson of Jamaica ran a 10.65 to win Jamaica’s championships.
Fox News Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.