EUGENE, Ore. — Sha’Carri Richardson — after failing to qualify Sunday for the final round of the women’s 200-meter dash at the USA Track and Field Championships — declined to comment about her arrest last week at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
But fellow American sprinter Christian Coleman, Richardson’s boyfriend, who was involved in the situation, did address the incident that landed Richardson in custody for nearly 19 hours. He wanted to offer support for Richardson, whom he called the best female athlete in the world.
“I feel like it was just a sucky situation all around,” Coleman, 29, said. “I don’t feel as if she should have been arrested.”
Coleman, who finished sixth in the men’s 200-meter final Sunday with a time of 20.2 seconds, said the arresting officer told him he didn’t have a choice but to arrest Richardson.
The Nike star was taken into custody after repeated shoves of Coleman during a “heated” argument as they went through TSA security, per the police report obtained by The Athletic. The incident, captured on video, showed Coleman walking away to de-escalate the matter. He declined to press charges. The case was eventually cleared.
News of the incident broke Friday, after Richardson ran the first round of the women’s 100 meters. She withdrew from the event after that round. As the reigning world champion, she has an automatic bid for next month’s world championships in Tokyo.
Coleman also ran Thursday in the first round of the men’s 100 meters. He advanced to the final Friday and took fifth with a time of 9.86. He said he wasn’t affected by the incident.
“People have discussions and emotions and stuff like that,” Coleman said. “Does she have things that she needs to work on for herself? Of course. But so do I. So do you. So does everybody. And I’m a type of guy, I’m in the business of extending grace and mercy and love. … I just look at situations like this to take a step back, analyze yourself mentally, and then just try to see what you could do to be your best self so that you can move forward.”
Coleman recently joined Star Athletics, run by coach Dennis Mitchell, the same crew to which Richardson belongs. Becoming teammates, he said, has given him a greater appreciation of Richardson, 25.
“She’s a human being and a great person,” Coleman said. “And I feel like we’ve been able to be really good teammates like all year. … And she’s, to me, the best female athlete in the world. I see it every day.”
Sunday marked Richardson’s first 200-meter race of the season and her first since last year’s Olympic trials. She has four races under her belt this season and is clearly not yet in peak form.
“She just has a lot of things going on,” Coleman said. “A lot of emotions and forces going on inside of her that not only I can’t understand, but nobody can. Because she’s one of one. … I know that it’s been a tough journey for her this year. But she’s going to bounce back. Like I said, I see it every day. She’s the best female athlete in the world, and she’s going to be just fine. She’s going to be good. I’m going to be good, too.”
(Photo: Roger Wimmer / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
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