Source: Patrick Smith / Getty
Superstar sprinter Sha’Carri Ricardson was at the center of more controversy over the weekend.
The 21-year-old track and field athlete took to Twitter on July 31 to congratulate Team Jamaica on their historic win.
“Congratulations to the ladies of Jamaica for the clean sweep. Powerful, strong black women dominating the sport,” she wrote.
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah became the fastest woman in the world yet again dominating the 100-meter race in 10.61 seconds. The record-breaking speed secured her a gold medal. Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce and Shericka Jackson also outperformed during the competition, rallying behind Thompson with Silver and Bronze.
However, a day before Sha’Carri hit send on her congratulatory message, the sprinter tweeted out one simple question to her fans.
“Missing me yet?”
Sha’Carri was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics after she tested positive for marijuana back in June. The devastating news came just a month after her astonishing win at the Oregon Olympic trials where the athlete dominated the 100-m dash in just 10.72 seconds.
The tweet gained a wave of mixed reactions from fans supporting Richardson to critics who slammed the Olympic hopeful for seemingly taking the spotlight off Team Jamaica.
One user wrote:
“You need to humble yourself , go sit in a corner and continuing smoking honestly. You have yet to touch or attend any international track or meet and you have all this talk. Smh trust people who honestly watch track and field and know the sport don’t miss you one bit.”
While another person chimed in:
“Come on babygirl….support your sisters and yes, we would’ve loved seeing you being your best doing what you do, but this is not becoming of your greatness and makes you sound petty and ungrateful.”
Shortly after the backlash rolled in, Sha’Carri issued a response to the haters.
“If you don’t like what I tweet you can definitely unfollow me,” she fired back. “If you choose to think of all my tweets as petty and shady then you should unfollow me showing your own character but don’t use my tweets to do it. have a day.”
What do you think? Was Sha’Carri Richardson showing a lack of support for Team Jamaica? Tell us your thoughts down below.