“To have her here at the biggest meet of my life, it’s just amazing,” Richardson told the magazine Runner’s World. “That probably felt better than winning the races, just being able to hold her after becoming an Olympian.”
The hug had particular resonance for Richardson. She revealed in a post-race interview that her mother had passed away just the week prior.
“Last week, finding out my biological mother passed away and still choosing to pursue my dreams, still coming out here, still here to make the family that I do still have on this earth proud,” Richardson told a reporter for NBC. “And the fact [is] nobody knows what I go through. Everybody has struggles and I understand that, but y’all see me on this track and y’all see the poker face I put on, but nobody but them and my coach know what I go through on a day-to-day basis.”
“I’m highly grateful for them,” she added. “Without them, there would be no me. Without my grandmother, there would be no Sha’Carri Richardson. My family is my everything, my everything until the day I’m done.”
Richardson’s victory comes after she smashed the 100-meter collegiate record at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, leading her to forgo her NCAA standing as a freshman at Louisiana State University so she could turn pro. The milestone was particularly impressive for the 5’1” athlete, who NBC reports was told throughout high school that she wasn’t going to “go to college and dominate those women,” only for her to make history during her first year.
“When you stand five feet one inch tall, you get told your entire life what you can and cannot do,” the NBC commentator remarked prior to the race. “That chip on her shoulder is because every time she’s been told that, she’s been able to overcome those odds and get it done.”
According to ESPN, Richardson will also be competing in the 200-meter qualifier, which will take place on Thursday. She’s expected to blow away the competition in that event as well; her preliminary qualifying time is 22.11 seconds, the fastest in the field.
The 2020 Olympics — which were delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic — will kick off in Tokyo on July 23 and conclude on August 8.
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