ESSENCE Producer Shari Nycole chit chats with Sha'Carri Richardson for an Exclusive interview.
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00:00Oftentimes, when you are at the peak of success like yourself,
00:04sometimes people can misunderstand you.
00:06Sometimes people can underestimate you.
00:08For you, is there something about Sha'Carri Richardson
00:11that you adore about yourself that people may not know about
00:15that you would like them to know,
00:17that you wish they knew about you?
00:19I would say one thing about myself that I adore
00:22and that I love about me that most people may not know
00:25is that I am always going to show you exactly who I am.
00:31I have no problem doing it because no matter what,
00:34I want people to always walk away from me
00:36and being able to say, I understand her.
00:40Like, I can relate to that.
00:41I mean, I probably can't relate to being an athlete.
00:44I probably can't relate to being, I don't know, successful,
00:47but I can relate to being human.
00:49I can relate to having experience.
00:51I can relate to continuing to show up,
00:54no matter if it's good, bad, or better day.
00:56Yeah.
00:58Hi, I'm Sha'Carri Richardson, Olympic silver and gold medalist,
01:01and you're watching my Essence Uncovered.
01:04Uncovered, right?
01:05Yeah.
01:07That was perfect.
01:18What's going on, Essence family?
01:19It's your girl, Sheree Nicole, here again
01:21with another edition of Essence Black Women in Sports.
01:23And this time, it's Essence Uncovered.
01:25I like how we merged the two worlds,
01:27and I'm hanging out with one of the fastest women to ever live.
01:31You heard me right, track and field icon,
01:33Olympic gold and silver medalist,
01:35none other than Sha'Carri Richardson.
01:37How are you? Hi, gorgeous. How are you?
01:40I'm fantastic.
01:41That is amazing.
01:42So, I know we just wrapped up.
01:44Behind me, just a few moments ago,
01:46you were giving all the things.
01:48You were giving the face, the looks, all the things.
01:50This is your first Essence Cover.
01:52Thinking about that and this experience you had here today,
01:55how are you feeling right now?
01:56Oh, my gosh. My experience here today,
01:58being on Essence Cover is an honor.
02:00I feel like the little girl inside me
02:02has achieved something that we only saw in the magazines.
02:05Like, we only saw on TV. So, it's an honor.
02:08Like, it even reminds me of a moment
02:10I've had with my grandmother.
02:11I actually remember her reading Essence when I was younger.
02:13So, full circle moment to just be here, be on the cover,
02:18these beautiful looks with these beautiful people,
02:20and just to admire the essence of blackness.
02:22I am honored to be considered black excellence on the cover.
02:27You absolutely are. So, you talked about the looks.
02:29We had a lot of looks today.
02:30Was there one that stood out to you most
02:31or that you felt the best in?
02:33They were all amazing, by the way.
02:35Thank you. Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much.
02:36I loved all the looks.
02:37I would say probably my favorite look
02:40would have to be the one where I look like an African goddess.
02:45I just like that because of the essence.
02:47It was soft, it was pure, and it was just covered.
02:51But covered in a way of just with energy.
02:54So, I really enjoyed that. Energy and elegance.
02:57Let's get into the nails. They are extremely sharp.
03:00And I mean that as nice, not just sharp as in a point.
03:04It's sharp like period. Like on point.
03:06On period, you're doing your thing.
03:09So, I mean, we talked about a little earlier
03:11before the cameras were rolling how you function
03:13with these nails.
03:15I was mentioning to you that I wear contact lenses,
03:17so I can only do nails about a little bit longer
03:20than my actual like where my skin starts right there.
03:23Right there.
03:24And you said you wear contact lenses.
03:25I do.
03:27Can you give me some advice on how to take these out
03:28with nails like that?
03:29Oh, my gosh. Actually, to even describe it,
03:33my little baby cousin, she's in college,
03:35she actually gave me a tip to getting out my contacts.
03:38It's like something in a way like take the contact,
03:41drag it to the end or something like that.
03:42It's crazy, but it works. It works every time.
03:45Like I can do it with nails on, with nails off.
03:47So, my baby girl helped me out. So, shout out to baby cousin.
03:49I'm going to try that. Baby cousin, I'm going to try it.
03:51If it doesn't work, I know who to find and who to blame.
03:55Speaking of fashion, just a little bit more,
03:57when it comes to the nails and the hair,
03:59how do you decide like what your look
04:01is going to be for big races?
04:02Oh, my gosh. So, my thought process going into big races,
04:06especially when it comes to my fashion, my hair, my nails,
04:09honestly, I have a great team that I trust
04:11and almost like they can feel the aura around me
04:15when I'm in go time.
04:17Like I don't start the day of the race.
04:19Like it probably is like two, three weeks out.
04:21I'm already preparing for my race on my team around me.
04:24Like they just pick up on my energy.
04:27And yeah, I literally just let them freestyle
04:29and literally what they come up with matches to the team
04:32what I'm feeling, what I want to embrace
04:35and what I want to show. So, I trust my team.
04:37Most I'll probably tell them if I'm feeling the color.
04:40Sometimes colors come to me because I feel like colors
04:41have a lot of energy.
04:43And I'll give them a color and they'll freestyle.
04:45But I trust their decisions all the way.
04:47So, there was a situation where you had a race
04:50and you said, nah, this hair ain't going to work.
04:53It's just going to go with what we got going on.
04:55What happened in that moment where you said,
04:58I don't want to do this or I don't need to do this right now?
05:00Oh, so actually that was one of the one times
05:05I actually planned out like fully to have like a stunt
05:08to do on the track if that makes sense.
05:10So, that actually was planned. Like I had my orange hair.
05:12I remember I was even telling both my like hairstylist
05:15and my braider like, hey, I'm going to do this.
05:17I know y'all don't know. So, you don't think
05:18I'm just ripping off my hair. I don't like it.
05:21Or if you don't see my braids, I'm not high, you know.
05:23So, it was a whole process.
05:24Like I literally went, got my hair braided first
05:27and then literally went to my hairstylist
05:29and she installed the wig the next day.
05:31And so, I was just walking around normal with my hair.
05:34And then once we got to the race,
05:36the whole concept was to show shading, shading the past
05:39and just embracing who you are in the moment.
05:42I love that, which leads me to my next question.
05:44We talked a little bit earlier about you being intentional.
05:47For me, that exudes freedom.
05:49So, for you at this time in your life
05:50and thinking about all that even happened today
05:52with this cover shoot,
05:53how does it feel to walk in that freedom
05:55and how grateful are you at this time in your life
05:57to be able to do that?
05:58I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity
06:02that I feel the freedom that I feel now.
06:04I feel like it was a certain point
06:06just having to learn the concept of what true freedom is.
06:10I'm like, that ain't New York.
06:11Let me tell you something. We didn't ask to be here, okay.
06:14But they chose to have this.
06:16So, if you hear a horn, it is what it is.
06:19And if you don't, just be thankful.
06:21We're going to do the best we can in the edit
06:23to make this what we would like it to be.
06:25But if you hear a horn, just get over it.
06:26Yeah. Shout out to New York.
06:28Back to what I was saying, I honestly am grateful
06:30because there were certain points in my life
06:31I did feel like I didn't have the freedom
06:33that I could really be myself and share myself.
06:36I thought that would be certain times
06:37I would have to limit who I am
06:39and how I could share just how I know to be myself.
06:43And I do feel like even with today,
06:45I've enjoyed the energy of everyone in here.
06:48They just felt my energy.
06:50And even with the looks, everything just showed
06:51a different creativity of just fun.
06:55Like, just be you.
06:56Like, just one of one.
06:58Freedom to just continue to know
07:01that no matter what you want to do,
07:03no matter who you are, you can do it,
07:05and you are exactly who you are.
07:07So, I am enjoying that freedom of my life now,
07:09and I felt that all today while I was filming as well.
07:11I love that.
07:12I'm glad we could create a space,
07:14a safe space for you to do that.
07:15You know, oftentimes when you are
07:18at the peak of success like yourself,
07:20sometimes people can misunderstand you.
07:22Sometimes people can underestimate you.
07:24For you, is there something about Sha'Carri Richardson
07:27that you adore about yourself
07:29that people may not know about
07:31that you would like them to know,
07:33that you wish they knew about you?
07:35I would say one thing about myself that I adore
07:39and that I love about me that most people may not know
07:41is that I am always going to show you exactly who I am.
07:47I have no problem doing it because no matter what,
07:50I want people to always walk away from me
07:53and being able to say, I understand her.
07:56Like, I can relate to that.
07:57I mean, I probably can't relate to being an athlete.
08:00I probably can't relate to being, I don't know,
08:03successful, but I can relate to being human.
08:05I can relate to having experience.
08:07I can relate to continuing to show up
08:10no matter if it's good, bad, or better day.
08:12Yeah.
08:14What or who keeps you grounded
08:16as we continue to talk about authenticity
08:18and you firmly rooted in who you are?
08:21What or who keeps you grounded?
08:22What reminds you to always be Sha'Carri?
08:24Oh my gosh, what keeps me grounded first would be my faith.
08:28I feel like my faith is something that
08:29as long as I keep that first,
08:32everything is like a domino effect and will follow through.
08:34So that's my first key of keeping me grounded.
08:37Then it will be my family.
08:38I love my family out in Dallas, Texas.
08:41I miss them.
08:42I love them all the time.
08:43And I appreciate just them always reminding me of who I am,
08:46no matter what is going on and I have no problem.
08:50And also I appreciate my relationship,
08:51my person that continues on a day-to-day basis,
08:54help me just see who I am,
08:56critique me and let me know my rights, my wrongs.
08:58And well, I appreciate my training team,
09:00like my training environment where I go there
09:04and it's another safe place and they continue, you know,
09:06they see me, but they understand as well.
09:09You know, the direction that I want to go in,
09:10we all come aboard together and we make it work.
09:12So I have a great, great support system.
09:15When you talk about your coaches, I know, you know,
09:17every player, every athlete is different
09:19and coaches have to kind of keep that in mind
09:21as they're coaching certain, certain athletes.
09:24Is there a certain level of communication
09:25that you're more receptive to when it comes to being coached
09:28that you're like, yo, if you, if you chat,
09:30if you're telling me like this, I'm good.
09:32If you're telling me like this,
09:33maybe we should figure out a different way to tell that.
09:36I would say, actually it would be funny when I say I,
09:40like I, me and my coach, we have a very close relationship,
09:44but for me, even if we weren't close, like I like,
09:47I like rough, like not saying rough,
09:49but I like the fact that it's just like,
09:50like give it to me exactly how you need to.
09:52Like, like if I'm not doing something,
09:54if I'm not at practice busting my tail
09:56to my fullest potential, or I am, you know,
10:00not doing what I'm supposed to be doing,
10:01like I'm, or if I am doing what I'm doing,
10:03like I like for my coach to tell me exactly
10:05what is on his brain, no filter, raw,
10:08because at the end of the day,
10:09I'm gonna give it right back to him the same way.
10:11But at the same time, I know that it comes from a,
10:13such a genuine place of wanting to pull the best out of me,
10:16no matter where, to the point where even he may,
10:18he is willing to go against, not even against me,
10:21but going against myself to pull out of me what I need.
10:25So I'd be like, coach, give me something straight.
10:26Like, I don't need no baby talk.
10:28Don't talk to me.
10:28Let me know what's up.
10:30So I take that all day.
10:31I love that, which to me takes great strength.
10:33And we were off camera.
10:34We talked about strength a little bit
10:35and kind of your views on that.
10:38With all you've accomplished in mind as a woman
10:41and as a track star, for you, what is strength?
10:44How would you define it?
10:46How would you define strength?
10:47I would define strength as
10:51win, lose, draw, never giving up.
10:53Like you're always like, no matter what it looked like
10:56and whether if you did it in the way you wanted to,
10:58you did do it, you didn't do it.
11:01Never, ever, ever giving up.
11:03I feel like that is what strength is
11:04because we are all as beings, we're gonna have good days,
11:07bad days, beautiful days, ugly days.
11:10But at the end of the day,
11:12we have to continue to know that strength comes
11:15from getting back up step by step.
11:18It may not be a big step, a baby step,
11:20but you're still stepping.
11:22Gotcha.
11:22A couple more questions for you
11:23before I let you out of here.
11:24Your voice, your aura, your presence carries a lot of weight.
11:28A lot of people have a lot of things to say.
11:30Social media, people just,
11:32when you get to typing,
11:33it's not about typing in the phone and in the computer,
11:35you just get real brave.
11:37For you, how do you determine when you're going to respond
11:41or exercise your right to raise your voice
11:44and when you're gonna just chill?
11:45Oh my God, I love that question.
11:47Thank you for that.
11:48Because I like how you said that,
11:49because it's moments.
11:51All of them categories got different moments.
11:53I feel like when I feel to use my voice,
11:56only when it's for the greater good.
11:59I feel as if only when I feel compelled
12:02by something put on my heart,
12:03on my spirit to speak on that is going to bring
12:06more peace and more positivity,
12:08then it will do negative.
12:09I feel like that's when I want to for sure use my voice.
12:12And to inform people, a lot of people,
12:14especially when it comes to track and field,
12:17really don't understand.
12:18So I would love to continue to use my voice
12:20or my essence or the platform I do have to show
12:24and to vocalize exactly what track and field is
12:27to the world and not just every four years
12:29when people tune in.
12:31I would say that's when I want to use my voice.
12:33And then choices when I don't want to use my voice,
12:35I would say, again, one of the,
12:38I just listened to Miss Stacey Abrams
12:40and she told me, well not me,
12:42but she told the group she was talking to,
12:44she was basically saying,
12:45if you wouldn't take advice from them,
12:47don't take critique from them.
12:49And I feel like that is something that,
12:51like I just heard it recently,
12:52but I feel like in my brain it's registered so differently
12:55because it's like, you're right,
12:56people that get online and have so many comments,
12:59they put their phones down
13:00and they see the life that they really live.
13:01When you put your phone down,
13:02you see the life that you really live.
13:04So it's just at the end of the day,
13:05you have to be in tune with your star player.
13:07You have to be grounded and create your own environment
13:09where you know sees your rawness, your ugliness,
13:13your beauty on a day-to-day basis
13:15compared to when you do get online
13:17and people only see moments.
13:18So I just pour myself into the people
13:20that see everything around me
13:22and the people that be online,
13:23I know they're gonna watch no matter what.
13:24So I'll be like, watch, baby.
13:26Watch.
13:27You all, as I close this out,
13:30I'm gonna give Sha'Carri the opportunity to answer or not.
13:33And this is the beauty in recording and editing.
13:35We could just get rid of stuff.
13:37So we started off initially this interview
13:39and I mentioned that she was a gold medalist.
13:42I did not mention the silver.
13:43She said, uh-uh, sis, one moment.
13:46I have a silver medal as well,
13:47which I'm also equally proud of.
13:49And so I redid that intro that you saw earlier.
13:52With that said, there was a lot of conversation
13:55around what transpired before the 100-meter final.
13:58A lot of people had their own interpretations
14:00of how that may have impacted you or what have you.
14:02And again, you've been moving in stride.
14:05You're proud of yourself, as you should be,
14:07and everything that you did up to that point.
14:09Is there anything that you want to address
14:11regarding what transpired that led up to that race?
14:14Honestly, there was nothing I would really address.
14:18I feel like divinely everything that happened that day
14:20was meant to happen to help me for my journey,
14:22not just for Paris Games,
14:24but for 2025 Tokyo World Championship,
14:292028 LA Games.
14:31I felt like everything that happened,
14:32I wouldn't try to even define,
14:35to define an explanation for,
14:38you know, the mishap, obviously, with the meet
14:40that happened that they saw online.
14:42But at the end of the day,
14:43I felt like what was put onto me,
14:45my heart and my body to perform out there,
14:47aligned with my journey long-term, if that makes sense.
14:53Absolutely, absolutely.
14:54So like again, and then one lucky don't stop, no show.
14:57That's right.
14:58That's right.
15:00You all heard it here first.
15:01There's no excuses,
15:03and there's no other reason
15:04to ask any more questions about this.
15:06It's been established, and you talk about divine.
15:08It was divine for us to connect here.
15:11Thank you for sharing your incredible moment with us.
15:13And I'm gonna tell you right now,
15:14I'm gonna be staring down my next talent
15:16like he was staring down on a girl like that.
15:18I'm doing that to everything that's coming to me in 2025.
15:22And beyond.
15:24Thank you, Sha'Carri, so much.
15:25Thank you so much.