"It's a responsibility that I take very seriously"- Sha'Carri Richardson makes feelings known on joining Alexis Ohanian's track meet Athlos

Olympic champion Sha'Carri Richardson has announced her entry into Athlos 2025. The 25-year-old American sprinter will make her debut in Alexis Ohanian's women-only track meet next year.

Richardson shared her thoughts about joining Athlos in 2026 as an advisor-owner, alongside the likes of Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall. The Olympic champion sprinter shared an excerpt of her interview with Athlos on her Instagram profile.

"This 2025 season, I am excited to continue to push the limits on what it is that I can do. Being in the forefront of a monumental step in changing the sport I feel like, it's a responsibility that I take very seriously. I am honored to continue to be a part of something that the next generation will continue to know, and carry the torch and know that nothing could stop them," said Richardson.

The two-time Olympic medalist further added,

"It's just the beginning. My vision for track and field going forward is to leave the lanes full of creativity. There's no cookie-cutter ways to be. There's no image that you have to obtain."

Sha'Carri Richardson is one of the few top athletes, alongside Noah Lyles, who is not competing at the Grand Slam Track League, which was conceptualized by former sprinting sensation Michael Johnson. Richardson is aiming for a strong comeback at the Tokyo World Championships, which will be held later this year.

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When Sha'Carri Richardson revealed how track and field unleashed her energetic side

Sha'Carri Richardson at the Paris Olympics 2024 [Image Source: Getty]

Sha'Carri Richardson once opened up about the impact of track and field on her overall personality. She credited the sport for unleashing her 'energetic side'. In the Running Things podcast conducted in October 2020, the Olympic champion mentioned,

"Actually, I feel like track brought it out. Younger girl was a little quiet. If you got to know me, you saw me. You saw this side. But if you didn't know me enough, no. I think track definitely was that shell that brought me out because it kind of brought, like I said, popularity to me. When I was like, to me, that was kind of me. I was that track girl, that fast girl. So, it kind of slowly brought me out of a bubble.” (17:23 onwards)

In 2021, only months before the Tokyo Olympics, Sha'Carri Richardson was accused of substance abuse after the US Olympic Trials. However, when the athlete confessed to using cannabis to cope with the pressure of qualifying for the Olympics while mourning the death of her biological mother, she was handed a one-month suspension by the US Anti-Doping Agency, which made Richardson miss out on the Tokyo Olympics. The 25-year-old athlete registered a strong comeback at the quadrennial event in Paris, where she won a silver medal in women's 100m and a gold medal in women's 4x100m relay.