- 4 days ago
Sha’Carri Richardson Is Redefining Greatness | ESSENCE UnCovered
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00:00Oftentimes when you are at the peak of success like yourself, sometimes people
00:05can misunderstand you, sometimes people can underestimate you. For you, is there
00:09something about Sha'Carri Richardson that you adore about yourself that people
00:14may not know about that you would like them to know, that you wish they knew about you?
00:19I want to say one thing about myself that I adore and I love about me that most people may
00:24not know
00:25is that I am always going to show you exactly who I am and I have no problem doing it
00:33because no matter what I want people to always walk away from me and being able to say I understand
00:39her, like I can't relate to that, like I mean I probably can't relate to being an athlete, I probably
00:44can't relate to being, I don't know, successful, but I can relate to being human, I can relate to having
00:50experience, I can relate to continuing to show up no matter if it's good,
00:55bad, or better day.
00:56Yeah.
00:57So, yeah.
00:58Hi, I'm Sha'Carri Richardson, Olympic silver and gold medalist and you're watching my Essence Uncovered.
01:04Uncovered, right?
01:05Yeah!
01:05Oh!
01:06That was perfect!
01:18What's going on Essence family?
01:19It's your girl Sheree Nicole here again with another edition of Essence Black Women in Sports
01:23and this time it's Essence Uncovered.
01:25I like how we merged the two worlds and I'm hanging out with one of the fastest women to ever
01:30live.
01:31You heard me right, track and field icon, Olympic gold and silver medalist, none other than Sha'Carri Richardson.
01:37How are you?
01:38Hi, gorgeous.
01:39How are you?
01:40I'm fantastic.
01:41That is amazing.
01:42So, I know we just wrapped up behind me just a few moments ago.
01:46You were giving all the things, you were giving the face, the looks, all the things.
01:50This is your first Essence cover.
01:52Yes.
01:52Thinking about that and this experience you had here today, how are you feeling right now?
01:55Oh my gosh.
01:56My experience here today being on Essence cover is an honor.
02:00I feel like the little girl inside me has achieved something that we only saw in the magazines.
02:05Yeah.
02:05We only saw like on TV.
02:07So, it's an honor.
02:08Like, it even reminds me of a moment of having with my grandmother.
02:11Like, I actually remember her reading Essence when I was younger.
02:14So, a full circle moment to just be here, be on the cover, these beautiful looks with these beautiful people
02:20and just to admire the essence of blackness.
02:22Like, I am honored to be considered black excellence on the cover.
02:27You absolutely are.
02:27So, you talked about the looks.
02:29We had a lot of looks today.
02:30Yes.
02:30Was there one that stood out to you most so that you felt the best in?
02:33Mmm.
02:34They were all amazing, by the way.
02:35Oh my gosh.
02:35Thank you so much.
02:36I loved all the looks.
02:37I would say probably my favorite look would have to be the one where I look like an African goddess.
02:45I just like that because of the essence.
02:47It was soft.
02:47It was pure.
02:48And it was just covered.
02:51Yeah.
02:51But covered in a way of like just with energy.
02:54Yeah.
02:54So, I really enjoyed that look.
02:55Energy and elegance.
02:56Yes.
02:56Let's get into the nails.
02:58They are extremely sharp.
03:00Yes.
03:00And I mean that as like nice, not just sharp as in a point.
03:04As in a point.
03:05It's sharp like period.
03:06Like on point.
03:06On period, you're doing your thing.
03:08On period.
03:09So, I mean, we talked about a little earlier before the cameras were rolling, how you function
03:13with these nails.
03:14Yes.
03:15I was mentioning to you that I wear contact lenses, so I can only do nails about, you know,
03:19a little bit longer than my actual, like where my skin starts right there.
03:23Right there.
03:24And you said you wear contact lenses.
03:25I do.
03:25Yeah.
03:26Can you give me some advice on how to take these out with nails like that?
03:29Oh my gosh.
03:30Actually.
03:30Ooh.
03:32To even describe it.
03:33My little baby cousin, she's in college.
03:35She actually gave me a tip to getting out my contacts.
03:38Like something in the way, like take that contact, drag it to the end or something like
03:42that.
03:42It's crazy, but it works.
03:44What?
03:44It works every time.
03:45Like I can do it with nails on, with nails also.
03:47My baby girl helped me out.
03:48So, shout out to baby cousin.
03:49I want to try that.
03:50Baby cousin, I'm going to try it.
03:51If it doesn't work, I know who to find and who to blame.
03:55Speaking of fashion just a little bit more, when it comes to the nails and the hair, how
03:59do you decide like what your look is going to be for big races?
04:02Oh my gosh.
04:03So, my thought process going into big races, especially when it comes to my fashion, my
04:08hair, my nails.
04:09Honestly, I have a great team that I trust.
04:11And almost like they can feel the aura around me when I'm in go time.
04:17Like I don't start the day of the race.
04:19Like it probably is like two, three weeks out.
04:20I'm already preparing for my race on my team around me.
04:24Like they just pick up on my energy.
04:27And yeah, I literally just let them freestyle and literally what they come up with matches
04:31to the team.
04:32What I'm feeling, what I want to embrace and what I want to show.
04:35So, I trust my team.
04:37Most I'll probably tell them if I'm feeling a color.
04:39Sometimes colors come to me because I feel like colors have a lot of energy.
04:43Yeah.
04:43And I'll give them a color and they'll freestyle.
04:45But I trust their decisions all the way.
04:48So, there was a situation where you had a race and you said, nah, this hair ain't going
04:52to work.
04:53We just going to go with what we got going on.
04:56What happened in that moment where you said, I don't want to do this or I don't need to
05:00do this right now?
05:00Oh, so actually that actually was like, that was one of the one times I actually planned
05:06out like fully to have like a stunt to do on the track.
05:09If that makes sense.
05:10Okay, cool.
05:10So, that actually was planned.
05:11Like I had my orange hair.
05:12I remember I was even telling both my like hairstylist and my braider like, hey, I'm going
05:16to do this.
05:17I know y'all don't know.
05:17So, y'all think I'm just ripping off my hair.
05:19I don't like it.
05:20Or if you don't see my braids, I'm not high.
05:23It was a whole process.
05:24Like I literally went, got my hair braided first and then literally went to my hairstylist
05:29and she installed the wig the next day.
05:31And so I was just walking around normal with my hair.
05:34And then once we got to the race, it was the whole concept was to show shedding, shedding
05:39the past and just embracing who you are in the moment.
05:42I love that.
05:43Which leads me to my next question.
05:44We talked a little bit earlier about you being intentional.
05:46For me, that exudes freedom.
05:48So, for you at this time in your life and thinking about all that even happened today
05:51with this cover shoot, how does it feel to walk in that freedom?
05:55And how grateful are you at this time in your life to be able to do that?
05:57I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that I feel the freedom that I feel now.
06:04I feel like it was at certain points just having to learn the concept of what true freedom
06:09is.
06:09I'm like, that ain't New York.
06:11Let me tell you something.
06:12We didn't ask to be here, okay?
06:14This is where they chose to have this.
06:16Right.
06:16So if you hear a horn, it is what it is.
06:19And if you don't, just be thankful.
06:21We're going to do the best we can in the edit to make this what we would like it to
06:25be.
06:25But if you hear a horn, just get over it.
06:27Shout out to New York.
06:28Back to what I was saying, I honestly am grateful because it was certain points in
06:31my life I did feel like I didn't have the freedom that I could, you know, really be
06:34myself and share myself.
06:36I thought there would be certain times I would have to limit who I am and how I could share,
06:40you know, just how I know to be myself.
06:43And I do feel like even with today, I've enjoyed the energy of everyone in here.
06:47Like they just felt my energy and just like, and even with the looks, like everything just
06:51showed a different creativity of just fun.
06:55Like just be you, like just one of one, like freedom to just continue to know that no matter
07:02what you want to do, no matter who you are, you can do it and you are exactly who you
07:06are.
07:06Yeah.
07:07So I am enjoying that freedom of my life now and I felt that all today while I was filming
07:11as well.
07:11I love that.
07:12I'm glad we could, we could create a space, a safe space for you to do that.
07:15You know, oftentimes when you are at the peak of success like yourself, sometimes people
07:21can misunderstand you.
07:22Sometimes people can underestimate you.
07:24For you, is there something about Sha'Carri Richardson that you adore about yourself that
07:30people may not know about that you would like them to know, that you wish they knew about
07:34you?
07:35I would say one thing about myself that I adore and I love about me that most people
07:40may not know is that I am always going to show you exactly who I am.
07:47And I have no problem doing it because no matter what, I want people to always walk away from
07:52me and being able to say, I understand her.
07:56Like, I can't relate to that.
07:57Like, I mean, I probably can't relate to being an athlete.
08:00I probably can't relate to being, I don't know, successful, but I can relate to being
08:04human.
08:05I can relate to having experience.
08:07I can relate to continuing to show up no matter if it's good, bad, or a better day.
08:12Yeah.
08:12So, yeah.
08:14What or who keeps you grounded?
08:16As we continue to talk about authenticity and you firmly rooted in who you are, what or
08:21who keeps you grounded?
08:22What reminds you to always be Sha'Carri?
08:24Oh my gosh.
08:25My, what keeps me grounded first would be my faith.
08:28I feel like my faith is something that as long as I keep that first, everything is like
08:33a domino effect and will follow through.
08:34So that's my first key of keeping me grounded.
08:37Then it will be my family.
08:38I love my family out in Dallas, Texas.
08:41I miss them.
08:41I love them all the time.
08:42And I appreciate just them always reminding me of who I am no matter what is going on.
08:48And I have no problem.
08:49And also I appreciate my relationship, my person that continues on a day to day basis,
08:54help me just see who I am, critique me and let me know my rights, my wrongs.
08:58And well, I appreciate my training team, like my training environment where I go there and
09:04it's another safe place and they continue, you know, they see me, but they understand
09:07as well, you know, the direction that I want to go in.
09:10We all come aboard together and we make it work.
09:12So I have a great, great support system.
09:15So when you talk about your coaches, I know, you know, every player, every athlete is different
09:19and coaches have to kind of keep that in mind as they're coaching certain, certain athletes.
09:23Is there a certain level of communication that you're more receptive to when it comes
09:27to being coached?
09:28That you're like, yo, if you, if you chat, if you're telling me like this, I'm good.
09:32If you're telling me like this, maybe we should figure out a different way to tell you that.
09:36I would say actually would be funny when I say I, like I, me and my coach, we have a
09:42very close relationship.
09:43But for me, even if we weren't close, like I like, I like rough, like not saying rough,
09:49but I like the fact that it's just like, like, give it to me exactly how you need to.
09:52Like, like, if I'm not doing something, if I'm not at practice busting my tail to my fullest potential,
09:57or I am, you know, not doing what I'm supposed to be doing, like I'm, or if I am doing
10:02what I'm doing,
10:03like I like for my coach to tell me exactly what is on his brain, no filter, raw,
10:08because at the end of the day, I'm going to give it right back to him the same way.
10:10But at the same time, I know that it comes from a, such a genuine place of wanting to pull
10:15the best out of me,
10:16no matter what, to the point where even he may, he's willing to go against, not against me,
10:21but going against myself to pull out of me what I need.
10:24So I be like, coach, give me to me straight. Like, I don't need no baby talk.
10:28Don't talk to me. Let me know what's up.
10:30I love that.
10:30Yeah, I take that all day.
10:31I love that, which to me takes great strength. And we were off camera.
10:34We talked about strength a little bit and kind of your, your views on that.
10:37With all you've accomplished in mind as a woman and as a track star for you, what is strength?
10:44How would you define it? How would you define strength?
10:46I would define strength as win, lose, draw, never giving up.
10:53Like you're always like, no matter what it looked like and whether if you did it in the way you
10:58wanted to,
10:58you, you did do it, you didn't do it, never, ever, ever giving up.
11:02I feel like that is what strength is because we are all as beings going to have good days, bad
11:07days, beautiful days, ugly days.
11:10But at the end of the day, we have to continue to know that strength comes from getting back up
11:16step by step.
11:18You know, it may not be a big step, a baby step, but you're still stepping.
11:21Gotcha.
11:22A couple more questions for you before I let you out of here.
11:25Your voice, your aura, your presence carries a lot of weight.
11:28A lot of people have a lot of things to say.
11:30Social media, people just, they, when you get to typing, it's not about typing in the phone and in the
11:35computer.
11:35You just get real brave.
11:36For you, how do you determine when you're going to respond or exercise your right to raise your voice and
11:44when you're going to just chill?
11:45Oh my God, I love that question.
11:47Thank you for that.
11:48Because I like how you said that because it's moments.
11:51All of them categories got different moments.
11:53I feel like when I fail to use my voice only when it's for the greater good.
11:58I feel as if only when I feel compelled by something put on my heart, my spirit to speak on
12:05that is going to bring more peace and more positivity than it will do negative.
12:09I feel like that's when I want to for sure use my voice and to inform people.
12:13A lot of people, especially when it comes to track and field, really don't understand.
12:18So I would love to continue to use my voice or my essence or, you know, the platform I do
12:22have to show and to vocalize exactly what track and field is to the world and not just every four
12:28years when people tune in.
12:30Yeah.
12:30I would say that's when I want to use my voice and then choices when I don't want to use
12:35my voice.
12:35I would say, again, one of the, I just listened to Miss Stacy Abrams and she told me, well, not
12:42me, but she told the group what she was talking to.
12:44She was basically saying, if you wouldn't take advice from them, don't take critique from them.
12:48And I feel like that is something that like, I just heard it recently, but I feel like in my
12:53brain it's registered so differently because it's like, you're right.
12:56Like people that get online and have so many comments, they put their phones down and they see the life
13:00that they really live.
13:01Yeah.
13:01When you put your phone down, you see the life that you really live.
13:03So it's just at the end of the day, you have to be in tune with your star player.
13:06You have to be grounded and create your own environment where, you know, sees your rawness, your ugliness, your beauty
13:14on a day to day basis compared to, you know, when you do get online and people only see moments.
13:18Yeah.
13:18So I just pour myself into the people that see everything around me and the people that be online, I
13:23know they're going to watch no matter what.
13:24So I'll be like, watch, baby.
13:26Watch.
13:27You all, as I close this out, I'm going to give Sha'Carri the opportunity to answer or not.
13:33And this is the beauty in recording and editing.
13:35We could just get rid of stuff.
13:37So we started off initially this interview and I mentioned that she was a gold medalist.
13:42I did not mention the silver.
13:43She said, uh-uh, sis, one moment.
13:45I have a silver medal as well, which I'm also equally proud of.
13:49And so I redid that intro that you saw earlier.
13:52With that said, there was a lot of conversation around what transpired before the 100 meter final.
13:58A lot of people had their own interpretations of how that may have impacted you or what have you.
14:03And, again, you've been moving in stride.
14:05You're proud of yourself, as you should be, and everything that you did up to that point.
14:09Is there anything that you want to address regarding what transpired that led up to that race?
14:14Um, honestly, there was nothing I would really address.
14:17I feel like divinely everything that happened that day was meant to happen to help me from my journey.
14:22Not just for Paris game, but for, um, 2025 Tokyo World Championship, 2028 LA games.
14:30I felt like everything that happened, I wouldn't try to even define, to define, um, explanation for, you know, the
14:39mishap, obviously, with the meet that happened that they saw online.
14:42But at the end of the day, I felt like what was put onto me, my heart and my body
14:45to perform out there, um, align with my, with my journey long term.
14:52If that makes sense.
14:53Absolutely. Absolutely.
14:54So, like again, um, and then one monkey don't stop no show.
14:57That's right. That's right.
14:59You all heard it here first.
15:01There's no excuses.
15:03And she, there's no other reason to ask any more questions about this.
15:06It's been established and you talk about divine.
15:08It was divine for us to connect here.
15:10Thank you for sharing your incredible moment with us.
15:13And I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm gonna be staring down my next challenge like you was staring down
15:17on a girl like that.
15:18I'm doing that to everything that's coming to me in 2025.
15:22Yes, ma'am.
15:22And beyond.
15:24Thank you Sha'Carri so much.
15:25Thank you so much.
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