Sha’Carri Richardson is calling out the International Olympic Committee after she was banned from competing for using marijuana legally while Kamila Valieva, a Russian ice skater, was allowed to compete despite testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
“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. The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady,” tweets Richardson.
Richardson qualified to compete at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the 100-meter dash, but last year, she tested positive for THC, the intoxicant in marijuana, and was denied being able to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
At the same time, Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, which is a heart medication that some athletes use to increase blood flow.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suspended Richardson for one month for testing positive; the 100-meter dash at the Olympics happened during the month she was suspended.
On the other hand, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that keeping Valieva out of the competition would “cause her irreparable harm,” and she was able to compete.
“The panel considered that preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances,” CAS Director Genetal Matthieu Reeb claims.
According to NPR News, TCH is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances and so is trimetazidin. But the situations are different, since Valieva is under the age of 16, which WADA considers her a “protesttes person” meaning that she deserves more protection.
The U.S Olympic & Paralympic Committee also spoke about the situation and how Valieva was able to compete, “This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia.”
Today, Valieva finished the competition in fourth place after falling multiple times, she broke into tears as she left the ice as the emotions of the past few days catch up.
