Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is offering some words of wisdom to rising track star Sha’Carri Richardson following the young athlete’s fall from grace.
During a recent interview with the New York Post, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist was asked about the 21-year-old whose stellar performance in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at the new Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, last June was quickly overshadowed by a series of incidents, including a failed drug test, which subsequently got her disqualified from the Tokyo games entirely.
Bolt told the media outlet that the best thing the Texas native can do now is stop talking and focus on what really matters. “I would tell Sha’Carri to train harder and to be focused and not say too much…,” he explained. A much speculated lack of media experience ultimately led to a dim in her once fiery fan support. Many have expressed belief that the young star’s trash talk proved damaging to her brand.
“If you talk that big talk you have to back it up,” Bolt continued. The Jamaican-born sprinting phenom added, “So just train hard and focus on that and try to come back, do it and then talk about it.”
On Aug. 21, Richardson finished in last place in the women’s 100 meters as Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah dominated the race. Shortly afterward, an online feud seemingly unraveled between Richardson and Team Jamaican.
Bolt told the outlet he and his fellow Jamaican athletes were not impressed by Richardson’s attitude, considering a rivalry between American and Jamaican sprinters that picked up some steam dating back to at least 2012.
“Jamaicans were vexed because she was talking a lot of s–t before the actual race, it is just one of those things,” he explained. “Jamaicans don’t like when people talk s–t about us because we are a very proud people. So if you talk about us we are gonna want you to back it up. It definitely gave those women the extra push [to win.]”
Richardson has had a few incidents with members of the Caribbean nation. She was offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Jamaica by a Jamaican hotel owner, following her loss to Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who finished second in the Prefontaine race. Many people online found the gesture to be disingenuous.
