You may have seen photos of Paris 2024 Olympic athlete Sha’Carey Richardson making the rounds.
In this photo, Richardson looks confidently to the right on his way to winning Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay, his first gold medal after winning silver in the 100m final. The “Shah Kali Star” standoff captivated the nation more than the gold medal that followed.
“I looked around and I knew that no matter what happened, I couldn’t allow anyone, not even me, to get in my way,” Richardson told Refinery29 in an interview published Tuesday. “I couldn’t allow myself to not cross the finish line in first place, not get a medal, or even let down the women and the support that I received when I crossed the finish line in first place for Team USA.”
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Richardson ran the final leg of the 4×100-meter relay for Team USA, which consisted of Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Melissa Jefferson and Towanisha Terry. Richardson took the baton from Thomas in third place, but then dominated the anchor leg to secure the gold medal. As she approached the finish line, Richardson caught a glimpse of the British and German sprinters who had placed second and third, respectively, in the relay.
Though the expression has been described as a scowl, Richardson explained that it had more to do with her than her competitors: “It was like the look was holding a mirror up to that side of me, like I was seeing a side of myself that no one else could see,” she told Refinery29.
“I’m always my biggest competitor, so I had to do my best on the track,” she added, “and just looking around, it just showed that all the hard work that all of us women in that 4×1 had put in hadn’t gone in vain.”
The photo may not end up in the Louvre in Paris, but the masterpiece made from the anchor leg will be a work of art on her wall. “I might have to hang it in my house,” she said.
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