Olympic gold medal sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson said she plans to seek help following her July 27 arrest, which stemmed from a physical confrontation with her boyfriend, U.S. sprinter Christian Coleman, at an airport.
“I’m taking this time to not only see myself but get myself a certain level of help that overall is going to reflect who I truly am in my heart and my spirit and not allowing this moment — but accepting this moment — to be more,” Richardson said in an Instagram post Monday night.
Richardson, 25, won silver in the 100m at the Paris Olympics and was on the gold medal-winning 4×100 relay team.
She was arrested after officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reviewed security video that showed her appearing to grab Coleman’s backpack and shove him toward a wall while he was attempting to move through the terminal.
Richardson posted a one-line comment to Twitter on the afternoon of the arrest that read in all caps: I WILL ALWAYS GET BACK UP!!!
She said Monday night in her first public comments on the matter that she appreciated being held accountable.
“More than anything, definitely a lot of self reflection, a lot of understanding of not only putting myself in a compromising situation with somebody that I have a deep care and appreciation for as well, is something that — holding myself accountable,” Richardson said in the video that appeared on her Instagram story.
“So my only thing is, I want to be more — not just only for myself, for my family, my fans. I overly appreciate y’all supporting me and showing love and even holding me accountable to being my best self. So more than anything, I refused to run away … but face everything that comes to me head-on because everything on the other side is greater but you gotta go through in order to get there.”
Richardson issued an apology to Coleman that read in part, “I apologize to Christian. He came into my life and gave me more than a relationship but a greater understanding of unconditional love from what I’ve experienced in my past. Due to my past trauma and pain, I was blind and blocked off to not only receive it but give it. I love him and to him I can’t apologize enough.”
As security footage of the incident became public, Coleman told The Athletic in a video interview, “She’s a human being, and a great person. She has a lot of things going on, a lot of emotions and forces going on inside of her that not only I can’t understand, but nobody can. She’s one of one. And I’m one of one too.
“I feel like it was just a sucky situation all around, I don’t feel as if she should have been arrested.”
–Field Level Media
