On Tuesday USA Track and Field released it’s Olympic roster and banned sprinter, She’ Carri Richardson, was not on the list. Her positive test for marijuana will not only cost her a shot at competing in the 100-meter race in which she won at the Olympic trials but also her shot at competing on the 4X100 meter relay.
She was banned for 30 days which would have ended on August 5 just before the start of the 4X100 relay. So most folks thought that she would be able to compete in that event.
However, what most folks didn’t think about that are hollerin’ and screamin’ this morning is that the relay is all about timing and making sure the exchanges are as close to perfect as possible. If Richardson is suspended for the next 30 days and the team is practicing daily without her. That’s a problem.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! The other three people on the relay have been dreaming their entire lives about running in the Olympics too and they followed the rules. So do you really think that they were willing to risk timing issues because Sha’Carri decided to break the rules. Think about everyone involved not just Richardson.
I keep hearing folks holler about the rule being ridiculous. It may be but the rules are the rules. If everyone else that is competing in the Olympics had to be clean to get in then it’s not fair to them to just insert Sha’Carri into the 4X100 right before the event because folks on social media thought that the rule sucked.
And stop with the whole “She smoked weed in Oregon where it’s legal” argument. The World Anti-Doping Organization says that it’s on the list of banned substances no matter where you smoke it.
I feel bad for the young lady but in life there will be rules that we don’t like that we unfortunately have to follow. It is what it is. Would it have been fair to the other women that followed the rules to just stick Richardson into the 4X100 relay without being able to practice with them?
When a person is suspended everyone else slides up a notch. Therefore, the sixth and seventh place finishers in the 100-meters slide up and are placed on the relay. They are English Gardner and Aleia Hobbs.
I pray that Sha’Carri returns with a vengeance but this time she has to sit it out. It is what it is. The rules are the rules.