Sha’Carri Richardson is bracing up for her redemption season. After all, the fan favorite was shocked to the core when a certain Julien Alfred snatched her Olympic dreams. And what better way to announce her arrival on the competitive sphere again than holding hands with a billion-dollar conglomerate? Yes, Nike did take a long time to go from ‘Just Do It’ to ‘So Win’. 

But fortunately for Richardson, she has found her way right up Nike’s list as they honor the meticulous women athletes for their incredible accomplishments. Back on March 1, 2025, Nike dropped their latest advertisement featuring women athletes. And it was Sha’Carri Richardson who graced the footage in the post. 

Giving a detailed look of her charismatic track persona, the 15-second-long footage had Richardson’s voice playing in the background. It said, “People will be quick to tell you you need to learn your place. So I did. It’s first.” The post was further captioned, “Sha’Carri Richardson knows her place. It’s first.” Well, so far, the story reads quite intriguing. It looks like the perfect motivation for Richardson to script a dream comeback in this year’s worlds. But there seems to be a small problem. 

Soon after the footage was released, it quickly went viral among the netizens. And the eagle-eyed fans did not forget to pick a major blunder from the video. As Sha’Carri Richardson was posing with her running stance, something was off with the pose. The fans pointed out how the legs and arms were not in sync as Richardson tried to mimic her running posture. 

As a matter of fact, a sprinter will usually have her right hand and left leg going simultaneously in an alternative manner to generate maximum speed. However, in the footage that was shared, Richardson seemed to go with the same arm and same leg. Now, while there might have been a discrepancy, there is always a huge difference between reel and real.

While Richardson is a champion on the track, she might have missed a trick or two while filming the shoot for Nike. Unfortunately, the fans seemed to have taken a serious dislike to the odd synchronization of Richardson’s hands and legs. They took to the comments section and expressed their point of view. 

Fans give their two cents on Sha’Carri Richardson’s Nike fail

As soon as the post went viral, fans flocked to share their opinions. One fan comment referred to the perceived mismatch in rhythm between Sha’Carri Richardson’s movements and the ad’s pacing, making it look unnatural. Several netizens found the execution awkward, which led to trolling. The comment from a netizen read, “I knew this looked way off.”.

The apparent lack of synchronization gave critics more reason to mock it. Another track enthusiast tried to defend Sha’Carri Richardson by explaining the likely reason behind the running posture mistake in Nike’s ad. They commented, “Filming vs. actually running is a trillion times different. If her right hand was up, it would block her face. The studio set was prob locked in; half of the ppl that film are not athletes, let alone runners. They prob didn’t even think about it. Or better yet, know the difference.”

Their words suggest that the filmmakers prioritized aesthetics over accuracy—they fixed the studio setup, and raising her right hand would have blocked her face. The commenter also points out that most people involved in filming are not athletes, so they might not have noticed or understood the error. 

Essentially, it argues that the discrepancy was unintentional and not a reflection of Richardson’s real sprinting form.One fan wrote, “At least they got proper block technique down right.”. They referred to the error in her running posture—her arms and legs moved in sync instead of alternating. Despite this blunder, the commenter acknowledges that Nike at least depicted the proper starting block technique correctly.

The ad might also suggest a noticeable flaw in Richardson’s running stance. But it accurately represents some technical aspects, like her position at the start of a race. The comment balances criticism with a small nod to the video’s authenticity in capturing sprint mechanics. Another social media fan humorously questioned why Sha’Carri Richardson didn’t notice or correct the incorrect running posture in Nike’s ad. “😂😂😂 why Sha’Carri ain’t say nothing though? 💀” read the comment.

Another X user too seemingly felt the visuals didn’t align well with the message, reinforcing their skepticism. Their comment read, “Epic fail.”. Netizens also conceived Sha’Carri Richardson’s portrayal in Nike’s advertising to be overhyping the sprinting sensation. Thus, it is evident that the alleged botch from Sha’Carri Richardson has led to fans trolling her. However, it would be interesting to see whether she can shut all the trolling by putting a splendid show on the tracks later this year.