US sports stars from Olympic track champion Michael Johnson to NFL and NBA stars backed Sha’Carri Richardson after she was suspended for using marijuana and lost her 100m Olympic berth.
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced a one-month ban after she tested positive for marijuana, a banned World Anti-Doping Agency substance.
Richardson said she took the drug to cope with the pressure of trying to reach the Olympics and the pain of learning about the death of her mother.
Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY
“I don’t know why marijuana is banned. Maybe a good reason. Maybe not,” Johnson wrote on Twitter. “I know how it feels to lose a parent. Indescribable pain! I’m from the same neighborhood as @itskerrii Tough place! I wish people would stop calling her and this ban stupid unless you know the reason for both.”
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wrote: “This is so trash man... just let her run!”
Richardson, who this season became the sixth-fastest woman ever at 100m, will not be able to compete in the event.
Richard Sherman, a Super Bowl champion cornerback with Seattle, said he backed Richardson, but questioned a society that would punish her for coping with personal loss.
“I’m very proud of this young woman but so frustrated at the place we are as a society,” Sherman wrote. “She is dealing with one of the greatest personal losses anyone could ever have to deal with in the midst of trying to accomplish one of the most difficult feats. Now we make her explain smh.”
Retired NBA star Dwyane Wade addressed those who decided that marijuana should be a banned substance.
“But majority of y’all rule makers smoke and probably are investors in THC companies,” Wade wrote on Twitter. “Let’s stop playing these games.”
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
Italian champions SSC Napoli on Sunday came unstuck at Bologna, losing 2-0 to cede the Italian Serie A summit to Inter, who downed SS Lazio by the same scoreline. AS Roma, who beat Udinese 2-0 earlier, briefly held the summit, only for Inter to dislodge them on goal difference. With the game just three minutes old, Lautaro Martinez put Inter in control with Ange-Yoan Bonny doubling the lead on the hour with a shot from close range. Goals in the capital either side of the break by Lorenzo Pellegrini and Zeki Celik sent Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma temporarily to the
RSS