Sha'Carri Richardson Praises God With Profound Comments About Perception During Difficult Journey To First World Title

Sha'Carri Richardson is a world champion. The electrifying American sprinter took down Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Marie-Josee Ta Lou to claim victory in the 100 at the World Athletic Championships on Monday after almost missing out on the Final all together.

Richardson mounted a masterful comeback to eventually pull away from three of the best female sprinters of all-time and will return home as a world champion.

It has been a long road for the former collegiate national champion at LSU to get to where she is today.

Richardson tested positive for marijuana after qualifying for the 2020 Olympics and was removed from the team. Her mother passed away around the same time, which led her to use cannabis as a coping mechanism.

After some time away from the track, Richardson's first few races were rough. She got smoked.

The media often painted her in a negative light throughout the entire journey. People were quick to label her as loud and obnoxious. Others went so far as to use her race as rationale for her behavior.

In reality, Sha'Carri Richardson was just being Sha'Carri.

Nobody can fault her for being herself, and she doesn't care what you think. That was a large part of why she made a statement with her wig before winning the 100-meter at the U.S. Championships.

Richardson has been on a tear over the course of the last few months and there has been a lot of excitement about her return to the biggest stage. However, as she put it —

She's not back. She's better.

The 23-year-old doubled down on that claim following her win in Budapest. And based on the first result, it's true.

Richardson also spoke to the moment in which she found out that she became a world champion after a personal best and World Championship record time. Her respect for her opponents was abundant.

Not long thereafter, the gold, silver and bronze medalists took the stage for their post-race press conference. Richardson was asked about her mission to transcend the sport and how she plans to continue to have an impact beyond just being fast.

She is thrilled with how far she has come.

It feels amazing knowing that people see me not only as an athlete, but they see me as a person. I feel like that's my biggest thing more than anything.
I want people to see that it goes beyond athlete. You bring who you are onto the track. You bring your athlete into your life.
There is no separation, honestly.

Everybody is seeing the true, authentic Sha'Carri Richardson. Nobody else.

I'm glad that I can display who I really am, not my pain, not my sadness...
I'll be glad to sit here and be happy, and whole, knowing that it all paid off.
always.

Monday's win marked the first time in six years that an American woman won the 100-meter event. Richardson will have a chance to win a second gold medal in the 200-meter later this week.

Although a gold medal would be nice, respect, transparency and authenticity is most important. God will take care of the rest.