The American track star Sha’Carri Richardson has been suspended for one month due to testing positive for Marijuana. Richardson accepted a one-month suspension early Friday from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for an anti-doping rule violation.
The result means she cannot compete in the 100-meter race at the Tokyo Olympics. She was seen as the U.S.’s best contender for a gold medal in the event.
“Sha’Carri Richardson, of Clermont, Fla., an athlete in the sport of track and field, has accepted a one-month suspension—as permitted under the applicable international rules—for an anti-doping rule violation for testing positive for a substance of abuse,” USDA said in a press statement Friday.
USDA said, “Richardson, 21, tested positive for 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (Carboxy-THC), a urinary metabolite of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana, and hashish, above the urinary Decision Limit of 180 ng/mL, as the result of a sample collected in competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 19, 2021”.
“The rules are clear, but this is heartbreaking on many levels; hopefully, her acceptance of responsibility and apology will be an important example to us all that we can successfully overcome our regrettable decisions, despite the costly consequences of this one to her,” USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said in a statement.
Cannabis, marijuana, and hashish are Specified Substances in the class of Cannabinoids and are prohibited in competition under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy, and the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, all of which, as required, have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.
Richardson won the women’s 100-meter race at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials last month in Eugene, Oregon, with a time of 10.86 seconds.
Sha’Carri Richardson went on the TODAY show on Friday and spoke about accepting her one-month suspension for marijuana use and being “blinded by emotions” in the wake of her mother’s death.
“I want to take responsibility for my actions,” she told Savannah Guthrie in an exclusive interview Friday on TODAY. “I know what I did, I know what I’m supposed to do … and I still made that decision.”
While Richardson can no longer compete in the 100m in Tokyo, there is still a chance she can compete in other races, TODAY writes. That, however, is not on her mind, she said to TODAY show.
“Right now, I’m just putting all of my time and energy into dealing with what I need to do, which is heal myself,” she said in the interview in TODAY. “So if I’m allowed to receive that blessing, then I’m grateful for it, but if not, right now I’m going to just focus on myself.”
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