B.O.B. Magazine Carl Dixon 2021

Richardson trotted about half a victory lap,
then ran up concrete steps into the stands
and hugged her grandmother. “My grandmother
is my heart,” Richardson said. “My
grandmother is my superwoman.
“I use my age as, honestly, an intimidating
factor,” Richardson said. “If you’ve been
doing this and I step on the scene, I’m letting
you know I respect you for putting on
for our sport. But at the end of the day,
when we get on this line, what you’ve been
doing, you have to do that against me.”
America’s latest sprinting star arrived in full Saturday night at
Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and she is neither going anywhere
or changing for anybody. Richardson, a 21-year-old from
Dallas, made her first Olympic team with a dominant performance
in the 100 meters, dusting the field in 10.86 seconds and
declaring to the world her intention to win America’s first gold
medal in the event since 1996 later this summer in Tokyo.
Before the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Sha 'Carri
Richardson dyed her flowing hair orange, so it looked this
weekend as if she sprinted with flames coming out the
back of her head. At her previous meet, when she had become
the sixth-fastest woman ever, she picked blue. The
decision on which color usually just comes to her before a
race. Before the biggest meet of her life, she let her girlfriend
choose.
“She said it just spoke to her, the fact that it was just so
loud and vibrant,” Richardson said. “That’s who I am. She
just wanted me to be able to make a statement — let’s continue
to show the world I’m a force to be reckoned with.”
Start reckoning with Richardson now. Start learning how
to pronounce her name — it’s sha-KERRY — and start
learning her personality because she will be happy to
show it. Get used to her Technicolor hair and perfect
stride, her elegant eyelashes and her bold proclamations,
her blazing times and her unapologetic attitude, brash and
bubbly at the same time.
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