'Powerful, strong Black women dominating': Sha'Carri Richardson congratulates Jamaicans on 100-meter dash sweep
U.S. sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson obviously would have preferred to be running in the women's 100-meter final at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, rather than watching it on TV while serving a one-month suspension.
But that didn't stop Richardson from offering congrats on social media to the three women who finished on the podium.
"Congratulations to the ladies of Jamaica for the clean sweep," Richardson wrote on Twitter on Saturday night in the U.S. "Powerful, strong Black women dominating the sport."
Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah won Saturday's final with a time of 10.61 seconds, breaking an Olympic record that had stood for 33 years. Her compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson finished second and third.
Richardson, 21, likely would have been in the mix for one of those medals had she been allowed to compete. She is currently serving a one-month suspension for marijuana use, stemming from a failed drug test at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in late June. Richardson accepted the suspension and apologized, saying that she ingested marijuana to cope with the trauma of learning that her biological mother had died.
Even amid the Jamaicans' dominance in the 100 this week, Richardson's absence has remained a theme.
"Missing me yet?" she wrote on Twitter on Friday.
Fraser-Pryce and Herah-Thompson declined to speak about Richardson when asked by reporters. And in a press conference after Saturday's final, the Jamaican trio quickly shot down a question about whether marijuana should be removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of prohibited substances.
"Sorry, wrong people," Fraser-Pryce said.
Richardson is scheduled to return to competition at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. The two-day meet begins Aug. 20.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sha'Carri Richardson congratulates Jamaican medalists at Olympics
