Sha'Carri Richardson Torches NBC Ahead Of USA Championships, Calls Revolutionary Meeting To Stop Athlete Exploitation

Sha'Carri Richardson is one of, if not the most polarizing personalities in track and field. The 23-year-old sprinter marches to the beat of her own drum and is never afraid to speak her mind.

Her most recent undertaking is two-fold, but each portion of her cause correlates with the other.

Richardson first burst onto the scene in 2021 when she blew away her competition during the U.S. Olympic trials with one shoe untied. She then solidified herself as the most exciting sprinter since Usain Bolt en route to Tokyo.

However, her result was disqualified after a positive test for marijuana and she was left off of the U.S. Olympic team. Richardson’s first race back was a nightmare, and she was eliminated in the first round of the 100-meter at nationals last year.

Now she's back in a big way.

Richardson is the favorite in the 100-meter event at the U.S. National Championships. A win this weekend, which is expected, would place her on Team USA for the World Championships later this summer.

In the meantime, she is vocalizing two different, but similar concerns.

Sha'Carri Richardson is speaking up.

First and foremost, the Texas-native put NBC on blast. The U.S. outdoor track and field championships are happening in Eugene this week. It is the biggest event in domestic track and field and has aired on NBC every year since 2006.

That is not the case in 2023. The championships will air on CNBC and stream on Peacock. It will not run on NBC, which will mostly air re-runs instead.

NBC Sports' decision is due to multiple reasons, but nothing is definitive.

The Finals on Saturday and Sunday typically take place between 4-6:00 p.m. ET. They will be held from 9-11:00 p.m. in 2023. That may have played a role.

In addition, NBC will air US Women’s Open golf tournament on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The third and final rounds of last year's tournament received more viewers than would be expected of the U.S. Track and Field Championships.

There is also a push for NBC to grow its streaming platform.

USATF issued the following statement to LetsRun.com:

USA Track & Field’s High Performance Team discussed potential dates for this event – based on the windows provided by World Athletics for national federations to hold their National Championships – with elite coaches and the USATF High Performance Division Executive Committee (which includes representatives from the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee), and jointly determined that July 6-9 would be the best dates for this event for optimum performance at both National Championships and World Championships.

This date created programming conflicts on the NBC broadcast network, including with the U.S. Women’s Open from Pebble Beach. NBC Sports continues to be a trusted partner and exceptional supporter of USA Track & Field. Fans can watch this year’s event on widely distributed CNBC and stream it on Peacock. USATF is also investing in the production infrastructure to stream all events outside of the CNBC window on USATF.tv, making this the first time the entire National Championships will be available live.

Regardless of the reason for NBC's decision, Richardson is pissed.

These companies continue to make it HARDER for track and field to have exposure!!! All they want is to continue to exploit sports!!!

That exploitation comment leads Richardson to her second point.

Sha'Carri Richardson is holding a meeting.

Richardson voiced her frustrations regarding exploitation in a video on Instagram. She is proposing a strategic meeting.

Richardson hopes that track and field athletes will join her to discuss major decisions that are made on their behalf without giving them a say. Although the idea of athletes, or individuals coming together to discuss larger change is nothing new, the meeting would be revolutionary in the track and field space.

The meeting will be held in Eugene later this week.

There is so much going on in our sport! A lot of changes are happening that affect us. We, as athletes, keep talking about not having a voice. We do! Let’s get together in Eugene in discuss.
Interested in meeting during Nationals (of course not during competition) to discuss what’s going on in US Track and Field, let me know! Athletes Only!!!

There is a lot of conversation to be had about exploitation in track and field. Most recently, though, there has been a lot of complaints and controversies (for lack of better word) surrounding the championships and trials.

Athletes have been upset with the sudden increase in the cost of tickets, transportation, housing and everyday necessities like food in Oregon. There are also reports that Nike agreed to a contract with USA Track & Field for all senior athletic championships to be held in Eugene.

The athletes were not involved in that conversation.