Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, a new great American athletics sensation, tested positive for marijuana during qualifying tests for the Tokyo Games, putting her Olympic participation in serious jeopardy, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The newspaper cited two unidentified people with knowledge of the positive test result, which was advanced by The Gleaner newspaper in Jamaica.
Richardson’s agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.
Richardson, 21, won the 100-meter test of the United States pre-Olympic held at the end of June in Eugene, Oregon, which gave him the ticket to Tokyo.
This season, the young sprinter became the sixth fastest woman in history in that distance with a time of 10.72 seconds, set in the state of Florida in April.
Marijuana is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances and a positive result for this drug can lead to a suspension of between one month and two years.
The positive could invalidate Richardson’s victory at Eugene and open the door for another of the competitors to obtain a place in the Tokyo Games (July 23 – August 8), even if Richardson received minimal punishment.
The New York Times reported that other participants in the 100-meter final in Eugene were told of their rise in the rankings.
While his surroundings were silent, Richardson published a cryptic tweet in which he says to his followers: “I am human.” (AFP)