Positive Marijuana Test Leads to 30-day Suspension for American Track Star, Can Not Run in Olympic Race

American champion Sha’Carri Richardson cannot run in the Olympic 100-meter race after testing positive for a chemical found in marijuana. Richardson won the 100 at Olympic trials on June 19. She told of her ban Friday on the “Today Show.”

Richardson says she smoked marijuana as a way of coping with her mother’s recent death. She tested positive at the Olympic trials and so her result is erased. She accepted a 30-day suspension that ends July 27, which would be in time to run in the women’s relays. USA Track and Field has not disclosed plans for the relay.

The 21-year-old sprinter was expected to face Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in one of the most highly anticipated races of the Olympic track meet.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)