The Olympic court ruled that Kamila Valieva, 15, is a ‘protected person,’ but the Team USA sprinter lost her opportunity to race for the same violation.

Sha’Carri Richardson is wondering why she was suspended from competing in Olympic games for failing a drug test while a Russian figure skater was allowed to compete after she tested positive for a banned drug.

Richardson responded to a USA Today column penned by Christine Brennan, which indicated that 15-year-old Kamila Valieva would be allowed to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the 2022 Beijing Games and that the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision “is just a slap in the face to all of those athletes doing it the right way.”

The Russian Olympic Committee won gold in the team event last week.

The court ruled that Valieva is a “protected person” as a minor and therefore has different rules than adult athletes.
“Can we get a solid answer on the difference between her situation and mine?[sic]” Richardson quote tweeted over a link to Brennan’s op-ed. “My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady.”

Later, Richardson tweeted, “It’s all in the skin.”

Richardson, 21, was suspended for 30 days last July after testing positive for marijuana, which came a month after she won the 100-meter race at the U.S. track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon.

The 21-year-old up-and-coming track star said she turned to marijuana to cope with the death of her mother, which is news she found out about at the trials. The 30-day suspension prevented her from competing in the 100 meters last summer at the Tokyo Olympic Games, where she was expected to compete for the gold medal.

Also on Monday (February 14), Richardson tweeted out what many believed at the time of her testing positive for marijuana: “Btw THC definitely is not a performance enhance!!!!” she tweeted.

The decision to allow Kamila Valieva to continue competing at #Beijing2022 despite a failed drug test "is just a slap in the face to all of those athletes doing it the right way," says @cbrennansports. https://t.co/moDxPjs92g pic.twitter.com/zzQZEKQP8O

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 14, 2022