Furious sports fans say they’ll boycott Olympics after Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended over weed use

Tokyo Olympics favorite Sha’Carri Richardson will miss the Olympic game after she tested positive cannabis—and social media wants to boycott the games altogether.

The South Dallas, Texas 100-meter track & field star has received a 30-day suspension after testing positive for the banned substance, which will prevent her from participating in the Olympic games.

Many people aren’t pleased with this decision at all as another notable person, such as Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps was in a similar situation and had a far less devastating outcome.

In 2009, a leaked photo of Phelps smoking weed from a bong surfaced, making USA Swimming suspend him from competition for three months. They also said they would withdraw their financial support of him.

Kellog also noted that they wouldn’t renew their sponsorship with him.

Despite this, because Phelp’s photo was leaked in 2009, six months after the 2008 Olympics and five months before the 2009 championships, it didn’t interfere with his opportunity to compete.

For Richardson, this comes intp effect less than a month before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

“At this point f*** the Olympics. I just saw them banning swim caps for black women with thick hair. How about all black athletes boycott the Olympics,” one person said.

“Boycott The Olympics, we need to stand tall about this issue.... It’s not coincidental a BLACK Woman is indulged with love/support, and then a non-performance enhancing drug makes her ineligible for the Olympics???... Support Black women #ProtectBlackWomen,” another added.

But someone else pointed out that the Olympics has a lot of issues on their hands, and if they do not restore her position, it could be a “PR nightmare”.

“When punitive justice, the war on drugs, and cop culture meets the #Olympics. Lots of reasons to boycott this year’s Olympic Games already, but if Sha’Carri doesn’t get reinstated, the USOC is gonna have a PR nightmare on their hands.”

Check out other reactions from people who are not thrilled with the Olympics.

On Friday, Richardson spoke to TODAY about the failed drug test incident. Within the interview, she spoke about her biological mother passing away.

As a result of the shocking news, she “ingested some kind” of weed. It’s also worth noting that she was in the state of Oregon, where weed is legal, but it was against the rules of her sport.

The World Anti-Doping Agency states that athletes can be suspended for around two years if they test positive for cannabis.

And in November 2020, the United States Anti-Doping Agency said that the minimum suspension would be 30 days only if the athlete in question “can establish that the use of a substance of abuse was out-of-competition and unrelated to sport performance.”

“I know what I did. I know what I’m supposed to do ... I still made that decision,” Richardson told the outlet.

Last week, Richardson ran the 100 meters in 10.86 seconds, making her one of the most thrilling people to watch.