The world champion of 100m female content, Sha'Carri Richardson, was arrested last weekend at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for allegations of assaulting boyfriend, also athletes of Christian Coleman.
According to the police report collected by the AP news agency, Richardson was arrested on Sundays with allegations of domestic violence level 4, the lightest level in Washington's legal system. She was taken to the South Correctional Entity (Score) Center for Des Musein at 18h54 and was released the next afternoon, at 13h13.
The incident happened just a few days before Richardson competed in the 100m female content qualifying round at the American Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon. However, she did not need to cross the qualifying round to come to the world championship in Tokyo in September, because it was the current world champion at a distance of 100m.
According to the report, an employee of the Transport Security Agency (TSA) at the airport called the police after witnessing Richardson and Coleman arguing. Through the extract of the camera, the police confirmed that Richardson had his left hand jerking his backpack, then stopped the way when he tried to avoid his face. She was said to have pushed Coleman into the wall and then threw an object, could be headphones, towards him.
Despite being involved in the incident, Coleman refused to cooperate with the investigating agency and did not want to be considered a victim. “Coleman does not want to participate in the investigation and refused to be the victim,” the police officer recorded in the report.
The American Athletics Federation (USATF) issued a brief announcement: “We already know the reports and have no further comments on this incident.” Richardson's representative has not responded to media requirements.
Sha'Carri Richardson (25 years old) is one of the biggest stars of American athletics. She won a 100m gold medal at the 2023 World Championship in Budapest, won the Silver Medal at the Paris Olympic Games last summer, and contributed greatly to help the US team win the gold medal of 4x100m relay.
However, her career was also controversial. In 2021, she was not allowed to attend the Tokyo Olympic Games due to a positive marijuana in the doping test after winning the national qualifying round. That event caused a big wave of doping policy in sports and the role of mental health.
Currently, it is unclear whether the latest arrest will affect Richardson's play in the upcoming world championship.