Sha'Carri Richardson Reacts After Russian Figure Skater is Cleared to Compete in Olympics Despite Failing Drug Test [Photos + Video] | lovebscott.com

Sha’Carri Richardson Reacts After Russian Figure Skater is Cleared to Compete in Olympics Despite Failing Drug Test [Photos + Video]

U.S. track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson has an important question for the International Olympic Committee: Why was she unable to compete in Tokyo but Russian ice skater Kamila Valieva was cleared to compete in Beijing?

via: Revolt

On Monday (Feb. 14), the Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared Kamila Valieva to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the 2022 Beijing Games despite testing positive for a banned substance, a heart drug called trimetazidine, in December. According to CNN, the positive drug test only came to light days after the Olympics began and after 15-year-old Valieva helped the Russian Olympic Committee win a gold medal in the figure skating team competition.

Valieva will be allowed to compete on Tuesday (Feb. 15) in the short program of the women’s single skating competition, which she’s expected to win. The court claimed that the teenage skater should be allowed to compete under what they deemed “exceptional circumstances” because as a minor, she’s a “protected person.” The panel also claimed “that preventing the athlete from competing at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances.”

On Monday, Richardson retweeted a video about the situation, in which USA Today’s Christine Brennan called the court’s decision “a slap in the face to all of those athletes doing it the right way.”

“Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3,” Richardson tweeted. “The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady.”

As reported by REVOLT, the U.S. track and field star was suspended for 30 days in July after she tested positive for marijuana, which she said she used to cope after learning that her mother died during the Olympic trials. Due to the ban, Richardson was unable to compete in the 100-meter dash at the Tokyo Olympics, in which she was a favored competitor.

Though Valieva will be able to compete, the International Olympic Committee will not host medal ceremony if she wins on Tuesday, nor for the gold medal she helped win last week. See Richardson’s tweets about the situation below.

Share This Post