Sha’Carri Richardson called out the Olympics for how it handled Kamila Valieva’s drug case compared to hers. The American sprinter was given a one-month ban from athletics during the summer of 2021 after she tested positive for marijuana – something that resulted in her missing Tokyo’s delayed 2020 Olympics.
Richardson stated at the time that she used cannabis to cope with her mother passing away, adding that she smoked it in Oregon where the drug is legal.
She had qualified to compete in the games in the 100-metre dash after coming first in the US Olympic Trials and gave a shout out to the LGBTQ+ community after her win.
Valieva, a 15-year-old figure skater who helped bring home a gold medal for Russia in a team event last week, tested positive for trimetazidine (a banned substance used by some competitors to increase blood flow) at the Russian Figure Skating Championships on 25 December.