When asked by a reporter to repeat her statement, Richardson had an emotional response.
"I'm still here. Last week, finding out my biological mother passed away and I'm still choosing to pursue my dreams, still coming out here, still here to make the family that I do have on this Earth proud,” she continued.
Richardson did not give any more details about her mother’s death, noting the sensitive nature of the matter.
After her June 12 performance at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Richardson will be one of the odds-on favorites to capture the gold in the 100-meter and the 200-meter events at the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She'll compete in the 200-meter qualifying race on Thursday.
Since becoming a professional track star, Richardson has been having a tremendous year leading up to her first Olympic berth. As a student-athlete at Louisiana State University, she won the 2019 NCAA title in the 100-meters. With blazing speed to match her bright orange hair, she notched the second-fastest time in the event in the world this year with a time of 10.72-seconds at the Miramar Invitational in April which was the sixth-fastest time ever. Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who recorded a 10.63 earlier this month, holds the record and sets the stage for a dream matchup between Richardson and Fraser-Pryce.
Richardson credited her family, especially her grandmother Betty Harp, for her success.
“My grandmother is my heart, my grandmother is my superwoman, so to be able to have her here at the biggest meet of my life, and being able to cross the finish line and run up the steps knowing I’m an Olympian now, it just felt amazing,” Richardson said.
"And I'll highly grateful to them,” she remarked. “Without them, there would be no me. without my grandmother, there would be no Sha'carri Richardson. So my family is my everything. My everything until the day I'm done."
