Sha’Carri Richardson called out the ESPY Awards for allegedly not inviting her to the ceremony that took place Wednesday evening. This comes after she has spoken out about the unfair treatment she feels her sport receives from both the media and the sports community.
1.
“The ESPYS invited me when my life was in shambles as if I was a charity case,” she tweeted a day following the awards ceremony. “The disrespect that track & field receives in the USA alone is nasty. Half of the athletes there now could not do what we do on our WORST day.”
Richardson was invited to attend the 2021 ESPY Awards following her disqualification from the Tokyo Olympics for testing positive for marijuana. She received widespread support from her peers – with shoutouts from Virgil Abloh to a feature in a Beats by Dre commercial.
The track-and-field star has been making a comeback in recent months. She broke this year’s record for the women’s 100m race during the U.S. Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on July 7. Richardson recorded a time of 10.82 seconds, qualifying her for the World Championships next month. She also came in second behind Gabby Thomas in the women’s 200m race.
2.
Richardson believes track-and-field athletes don’t receive the same treatments as her peers in other disciplines.
“Track&Field is not like other sports especially in America,” she tweeted. “The NBA, NFL have organizations to HELP their athletes, not exploit them. Y’all have no idea how many track athletes that don’t even have a base salary, there are some athletes that literally sign contracts for CLOTHES!”
The 23-year-old has been using her public platform to advocate for fair pay in the sport by sharing other athletes’ experiences and organizing meetings for her community.
3.
This is why we need #AthletesOnlyTF to take off ( name in the works) but @Carl_Lewis their generation got payments before even touching the track. This is why we need to learn what happened so we can take back control !!!! https://t.co/JJBkWuOtTg
— Sha’Carri Richardson (@itskerrii) July 13, 2023
4.
Richardson was one of many track-and-field athletes to express her disappointment when it was announced that NBC, who bought the exclusive media rights to the competition, wouldn’t be airing the U.S. Championships for the first time since 2006. Athletes such as Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, Vashti Cunningham and Anson Henry noted their shared grievances.
