"I am still who I am. I’m me, but a better me"-Sha'Carri Richardson 'nervous' yet 'confident' heading into Paris Olympics 2024

Sha'Carri Richardson is slowly becoming the face of the track and field, and as she heads towards the Paris Olympics 2024, she is feeling a bit ‘nervous’. However, the world champion is confident of her abilities, and very few would beg against her in the 100m race at the Paris Olympics.

Had it not been for the unfortunate doping incident after the 2021 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Richardson might have been the defending champion in the 100m. However, heading into the Paris Olympics, she is a hot favorite to clinch her debut Olympic medal, that too a gold.

Richardson has run only once in the 100m this year, but a time of 10.83s in that race gives enough signs of her form. It marks the second fastest time of the year, and by the end of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, she may very well cross her personal best of 10.65s.

But Paris will be her debut Olympic Games, so some nerves are expected from the world champion as well.

“Honestly, I feel most confident on the track when I’m the most nervous. That may be backward, but I feel confident in relying on the training I’ve been doing and the way I’ve prepared myself day-by-day", Richardson told 'She Knows' in an interview.

Leaving everything behind that happened in 2021, Sha'Carri Richardson claims to be better than her past self. She indeed has shown that over the last couple of years, winning two gold medals at the 2023 World Championships.

“[I want to] continue to understand that no matter where I come from, I’m better than yesterday, I’m better than the day before that, I’m better than a year ago, two years ago. I just am better. I am still who I am. I’m me, but a better me", she added.

Sha'Carri Richardson was inspired by her grandmother to start the quest for Olympic medals

Day 8 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Sha'Carri Richardson started her athletics career at the age of nine after being inspired by her grandmother, Betty Harp, and aunt, Shayaria Richardson, both of whom were athletes. Shayaria was the world champion's first coach as well.

During an interview with Teen Vogue in 2022, Richardson recalled an incident from her childhood that set her on the path of winning medals. She revealed that Betty Harp, her grandma, had made a plaque of medals for her mother, and after asking for one, Richardson was told that she would need to earn those.

“My grandmother made [my mother] a big plaque full of medals and I saw it one day and was like, ‘I want that. I want you to bring me one, Granny.’ And [my grandmother] was like, ‘Well you got to do something to get some medals!'" Sha'Carri Richardson said. "And honestly from then on it was just like, ‘If you want to do something, if you want to be great, you got to put your all into it.'”

As she gears up for her debut at the Paris Olympics 2024, Richardson isn't just aiming for medals; she's embodying the spirit of relentless self-improvement and unwavering confidence.