EUGENE: US sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson was at the centre of a new controversy on Friday after it emerged she was arrested for allegedly assaulting boyfriend Christian Coleman shortly before this week’s US Track and Field Championships in Oregon.
Police in Washington State said the 25-year-old 100m world champion was detained on Sunday night after clashing with Coleman as the couple travelled through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
An account of Richardson’s arrest report e-mailed to AFP by Port of Seattle Police said security video footage captured Richardson in a verbal altercation with Coleman as the duo exited a security screening.
“Richardson is following and getting close to Coleman several times as Coleman appears to be trying to walk away,” the report reads.
“Richardson then pushes Coleman hard enough that it sends him crashing into a nearby column…. she again pushes Coleman, again hard enough that it sends him flying a few feet away.”
Richardson is then seen throwing a set of headphones at Coleman, who did not want to participate in the investigation and “declined to be a victim,” the officer’s report reads.
Richardson was detained and released on Monday following the incident, which the police report described as domestic violence.
News of Richardson’s arrest came as USA Track and Field officials said she had scratched from her remaining 100m rounds as well as Sunday’s 200m.
However USATF officials later confirmed that Richardson — who is already qualified for the 100m at September’s Tokyo World Championships — had changed her mind and would now race in the 200m this weekend.
“She initially told us she would not run in the 200m, but she never formally scratched. She has since informed us she will now enter the 200m,” a USATF spokesperson told AFP.
It is just the latest controversy to embroil Richardson during her career.
She was infamously barred from competing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for marijuana after her victory at the US trials as she grieved the death of her biological mother.
In 2023, she was removed from an American Airlines flight after an argument with a flight attendant.
The Texan star had given no clue of her latest controversy as she spoke to reporters on Thursday following her opening 100m heat. She did not mention her arrest earlier in the week and was not asked about it.
As a defending world champion, Richardson already has a bye into the World Championships in Japan for the 100m, and was under no obligation to race in Eugene this week.
Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2025
