Sha'Carri Richardson explains viral stare down during Olympics relay race
You have probably seen the viral photo of Sha'Carri Richardson from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The photo where Richardson confidently glances to her right en route to an Olympic gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay, the first gold medal of Richardson's career after she earned a silver medal in the 100-meter final. The stare down, dubbed the "Shar'Carri Stare," captivated the nation even more than the ensuing gold.
"I looked over and I just knew that no matter what was going on, there was nobody that I was going to allow — even myself — to be in front of me," Richardson told Refinery29 in an interview published Tuesday. "I wasn't going to even allow myself to not cross that finish line in first place and not get that medal, or to let down those ladies and the support that we received when it comes to us crossing the finish line, in first place as Team USA."
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Richardson ran the final leg for Team USA — made up of Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry — in the 4x100-meter relay. Richardson received the baton from Thomas in third place, but Richardson ran a dominant anchor leg to secure the gold. As she approached the finish line, Richardson glanced over at sprinters from Great Britain and Germany, which finished second and third in the relay, respectively.
Although the look has been described as a glare, Richardson explained that it had more to do with her than her competitors. "The look over was — it's almost like it was a mirror on that side of me, and I'm just looking at a version of myself that nobody but me could see," she told Refinery29.
"I'm always my biggest competitor (so I had to) leave my best on the track," she added. "And so just looking over, it was more so showing that the hard work that all of us ladies in that 4x1 put in was not going to be in vain."
Although the photo may not end up in the Louvre Museum in Paris, the masterpiece from the anchor leg will be art on her walls. "I may have to put it up in my house," she said.
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