When was the last time that you ran? The fastest you possibly can? All out? No stopping?
Been a while? Sha’Carri Richardson knows the feeling.
The heralded sprinter came in dead last at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon in the 100-meter race, and she withdrew from the 200-meter race.
Yet, she’s still pretty sure that the average person commenting from their couch couldn’t beat her.
One Twitter user wrote, “I feel I coulda beat Sha carri and all yes.”
Richardson responded, “I’ll triple your whole year salary if you can,” with laughing emoji.
The Prefontaine Classic was the sprinter’s first race back after being suspended from her sport because she tested positive for marijuana. At 11.14 seconds, she was far behind Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the same race.
The Jamaican runner’s time of 10.54 seconds on Saturday gave her the second-fastest women’s time in history, second only to late American Florence Griffith-Joyner.
“I’m a little bit surprised because I’ve not run that fast in five years, and I actually ran fast at the championships,” Thompson-Herah said. “But to come back here after two weeks to run another personal best is really amazing.”
Richardson, meanwhile, gave a post-event interview that is being scrutinized for its candor.
“It was a great return back to the sport,” Richardson told NBC after Saturday’s race. “I wanted to be able to come and perform having a month off. … Not upset at myself at all. This is one race. I’m not done. You know what I’m capable of.”
“Count me out if you want to. Talk all the s–t you want, ’cause I’m here to stay,” she continued. “I’m not done. I’m the sixth-fastest woman in this game, ever. And can’t nobody ever take that from me. Congratulations to the winners. Congratulations to the people that won, but they’re not done seeing me yet. Period.”
Richardson’s comments brought out even more feedback on social media, with users saying things like, “Fingers and mouth moving faster than ur legs. Focusing on the wrong thing aren’t we.”
Despite all of the criticism, the 21-year-old took it on the chin. One of her most recent Twitter posts was a GIF from the movie, Hancock. In the film, Will Smith plays Hancock, a superhero who gets more criticism than praise.
In this particular GIF, he encourages people to pour on the put-downs because he knows when they need him, he will still be there to help them, even when they least deserve it.
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