Source: Arturo Holmes/MG21 / Getty
Sha’Carri Richardson recently shared that she is now free from an abusive relationship. On her Instagram story, the Dallas native said she was suffering outside of the public eye while in a relationship with a fellow athlete from Jamaica.
“I was in a relationship with a Jamaican athlete that never cared about me from jump,” she wrote. “I was abused and stole from yet protected her from the judgement of her country and family while they dragged me. I had to deal with [homophobia] and so much more that I’m still healing from.”
She added that she doesn’t “understand how someone can just walk out of your life and not care about you anymore.”
For those doubting her, she posted a lyric from Fetty Wap’s “The Truth” that says “and I’m tellin’ the truth.”
Richardson has been tight-lipped about her love life. She only mentioned her significant other when she shared that she helped her pick out her vibrant hair color for the 2020 Olympic trials.
“She said it just spoke to her, the fact that it was just so loud and vibrant,” the 22-year-old told USA Today. “She felt like [orange] was loud and encouraging and, honestly, dangerous… That’s who I am. She just wanted me to be able to make a statement — let’s continue to show the world I’m a force to be reckoned with.”
While going through this behind closed doors, Richardson was also being publicly scrutinized. After being disqualified from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for marijuana use, she didn’t secure any wins in the races she competed in. While her rise to fame was rocky, she took it all as a learning experience.
“That entire situation taught me to look into myself and to see that I have to be grounded, because do you see how fast they flip? It almost seems like we have to be superheroes,” Richardson said about Black women to Teen Vogue. “It’s just irritating because you take away the abilities, you take away the speed, you take away the talent … and we’re still human.”
RELATED CONTENT: Women To Know: Sha’Carri Richardson’s Record-Breaking Success Is Still On Our Minds
