Sha'Carri Richardson Says She Wasn't Staring Down Her Opponent In Viral Olympic Moment, Which Is A Shame

Sha'Carri Richardson staring down her opponents just before crossing the finish line and winning her first Olympic gold medal at the end of the 4x100 women's relay was one of the most memorable moments of the Games in Paris.

Unfortunately, that's not actually what happened, at least that's the story Richardson is going with.

Richardson was the anchor runner for the United States women's relay team during the 4x100 and put on the afterburners by making up a sizable gap shortly after receiving the baton from teammate Gabby Thomas.

After pulling ahead of the pack, Richardson gave a mean stare to her right, which the entire world thought she was staring down her opponents and sending a message that ‘hey, I’m the fastest woman on this track.'

According to Richardson, she was actually looking at herself in some sort of metaphorical way.

"Honestly, that look over, if I had to just highlight anything, the look over was — it’s almost like it was a mirror on that side of me, and I’m just looking at a version of myself that nobody but me could see, if that makes sense," Richardson told Refinery 29.

"I looked over and I just knew that no matter what was going on, there was nobody that I was going to allow — even myself — to be in front of me. I know that sounds crazy, but I was in that lane and feeling like I’m always my biggest competitor [so I had to] leave my best on the track."

That moment sure would be cooler if she did admit that she was staring down her opponents as she zoomed past them. Richardson's reputation entering the Paris Olympics wasn't necessarily stellar as she was forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for marijuana, so perhaps she's playing in safe with the story about not looking at her fellow competitors before capturing gold.

The fact of the matter is that if you're the fastest runner out there you've earned every right to give a glance at your opponents, especially when we're talking about a come-from-behind win like Richardson capped off in the 4x100. 

Stare down or no stare down, Richardson's effort to push Team USA to a gold medal was among the top highlights from Paris this summer.