Sha’Carri Richardson talks Paris 2024 preparations with rapper Cardi B: ‘This is why I do what I do’
World 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and Grammy Award-winning singer Cardi B both share a passion for elaborate nail art and are equally excited for the upcoming Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.
In a video released by NBC during the Kentucky Derby on Saturday (4 May), Richardson opened up about her training regime ahead of her possible Olympic debut: “I am literally training five days out of the week, to the point literally like nine to five in corporate is like my nine to five on the track working out,” the 24-year-old Texan said.
Richardson said her preparation is so meticulous that every aspect of her life is taken into consideration: “Like down to even how much sleep I’m getting. Literally every little detail counts. It’s worth the hard work, it’s worth the sacrifices. In those moments, it showed that this is why I do what I do.”
Ahead of Tokyo 2020, a suspension over a positive test for THC forced the track superstar to miss the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. This time Richardson is laser-focused on making it to the Olympics: “I ain't going nowhere, I'm locked in, I'm working...I have no plans of letting life, adversity, any obstacle stop me from being in Paris."
With a personal best time of 10.65 seconds, which she clocked at the World Championships in Budapest last year, the U.S. sprinter is the fifth-fastest woman in history over the 100m. But to qualify for Paris 2024 she must make the US team at the trials scheduled for 21 to 30 June in Eugene, Oregon.
Cardi B shared that the French capital "is one of her favourite places in the world" and that "when the Olympics is in a big city, it changes the mood." The rapper is also looking forward to watching Richardson in action: "I will come just for you... and shopping!"
The 100m women’s final at Paris 2024 will take place on 3 August.
