Track star Sha’Carri Richardson year of highs and lows has been captured in a documentary short titled “Sub Eleven Seconds,” a reference to her best time running the 100 meter dash. Executive-produced by Virgil Abloh, the documentary will premiere at Sundance Film Festival.
Reflecting on the duality of her young existence, Richardson stated in the preview, “Time is my blessing on my curse. On the track I’ve been blessed to run fast. Off the track time has cheated me. You don’t know when something or someone will be taken from you.” A Nike-signed athlete, in the clip Richardson is shot off the track in a pair of Nike Off-White sneakers
The 24-minute film was directed by BAFIC and was produced by Architecture Films, a studio founded by Abloh, Mahfuz Sultan and Chloe Sultan prior to his death. “Sub Eleven Seconds” was filmed in June 2021 in Eugene, Oregon at the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials where Richardson qualified to run in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Commenting on the project on Instagram, Sultan wrote, “Over a year ago, Virgil, Chloe [Sultan], and I promised each other we’d start making films, that we’d found a film studio: ARCHITECTURE FILMS. our first official release premieres at Sundance this week. it’s bittersweet. we miss dreaming with you V, we are so infinitely infinitely infinitely grateful to you.”
Richardson first began to turn heads as a 19-year-old freshman at Louisiana State University where she ran the 100 meter in 10.75 seconds breaking the record at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships. Her time established her as one of the ten fastest women in history.
While she was qualified to run in the Olympics with a 100-meter time of 10.86 seconds, she was disqualified from competing when a urine sample she submitted after the race tested positive for THC, indicating use of cannabis, a banned substance.
Check out the preview below along with an interview with BAFIC. Find more info on timing for the screening here.
— Sha’Carri Richardson (@itskerrii) January 18, 2022