U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson questions her ban after Russian skater gets OK to compete

U.S. track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson questioned why a Russian figure skater was allowed to compete after a failed drug test and she had to sit out after her own drug test for marijuana came back positive.

Richardson responded to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to let Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine, compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the 2022 Beijing Games.

“The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady,” Richardson tweeted.

The Russian Olympic Committee won gold in the team event last week, and the International Olympic Committee said there would be no medal ceremony.

The court said Valieva, who is 15 years old, is a “protected person” and therefore has different rules than adult athletes.

“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,” Richardson wrote on social media. “The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady.”

Richardson was suspended for 30 days in July after testing positive for marijuana, a month after she won the 100-meter race at the U.S. track and field trials.

Richardson said she used marijuana to cope with her mother’s death, news she found out while at the Olympic trials. The 30-day suspension prevented her from competing in the 100 meters at the Olympic in Tokyo, where she was expected to vie for the gold medal.

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