'They’re my kryptonite' - Sha'Carri Richardson on how emotional intelligence had helped build career after navigating tortuous times

'They’re my kryptonite' - Sha'Carri Richardson on how emotional intelligence had helped build career after navigating tortuous times

Evans Ousuru 12:30 - 24.12.2024

American Sha'Carri Richardson explains why psychological adjustment has helped mold her into the athlete she is today and she can only get better.

Paris Olympic 4x100m relay champion Sha'Carri Richardson has revealed how navigating tortuous times have helped her  to develop a bulletproof mentality on and off the track.

The Olympic 100m silver medalist has embraced 'softness and femininity' and reinvented herself on the track. While the 2017 Pan American U20 4X100m relay champion and double world champion is happy to have made some serious strides in her personal growth, she has not abandoned the driving force behind her success.

“My heart is my brain. My emotions are my superpower, and at the same time, they’re my kryptonite. I cannot walk into a race without fully feeling the emotions from training, or the emotions from the motivation, or the inspiration I get from my fans, my family,” Richardson told Essence.

The 24-year-old stated that she gets psyched up when she steps on the track and her happiness is found in competition because it is what she loves the most.  "So when I walk out onto the track, that is what my heart is filled with, and that is the adrenaline that gets me going. As soon as my foot, my spike, hits the track, my heart confirms that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be and who I am,” she added.

Richardson rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, running 10.75 seconds to break the 100 m collegiate record at the NCAA Division I Championships. This winning time made her one of the ten fastest women in history at 19 years old.

In July 2023, she became the US national champion in the women's 100m at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, running 10.82 seconds