Track star Sha’Carri Richardson apparently wants every bit of the smoke. The outspoken athlete seemingly responded and not in a good way to words of encouragement provided by Allyson Felix during an interview with Stephen A. Smith who was a guest host on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last night (August 25, 2021).
In a series of Instagram Live posts, Richardson started by writing, “Encouraging words on tv shows are just as real as well nothing at all.” She followed with a post reading, “Be a good person, but don’t waste time proving it.” The 21-year-old athlete finished out with a second post showing herself from the legs down walking on a track surface that was captioned, “Blah blah NEXTTT.”
Felix is a seven-time Olympic gold medal winner and is fresh off of taking home gold as part of the U.S. 4 x 400 meter relay team at the Tokyo Olympics. She also took home the bronze in the 400-meter race. With 11 medals total, she’s the most decorated woman in track and field history.
She’s also the first Olympian to run in her own shoe. Called Saysh, the Los Angeles-born athlete launched the brand when, according to Felix, she was told by Nike during contract renewal negotiations that her pregnancy had reduced her value as a sponsored athlete.
While Felix has said she intends to retire before the 2024 Olympics in Paris, she did participate in the 200 meter race at the Prefontaine Classic 2021 race in Oregon and finished in last place. Richardson was slated to run in the 200 meter event as well, but withdraw following the 100 meter race in which she finished in last place.
The 100-meter race was swept by Jamaican sprinters Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, who also took home gold, silver and bronze in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Following the race, Thompson-Herah brushed off questions about Richardson, but on Instagram Stories she reposted several items making derogatory comments about the Dallas-born runner.
Check out Felix’s interview below along with Richardson’s Instagram story posts.
