Sha’Carri Richardson has yet another heartbreak ahead of Paris. Competing in the 200m US trials, Richardson shockingly finished fourth behind Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown, and MacKenzie Long. She clocked 22.16s to witness her Paris dreams in 200m get shattered. However, amidst the heartbreak, an incident from yesterday has grabbed the spotlight. Running in the semis, Richardson got a yellow card warning for stepping inside the lane line on the turn. 

This meant that Richardson would have been disqualified if the mistake had been repeated in today’s finals. Soon after the results, fans started speculating that the disqualification scenario might have been playing in the back of her head. And that probably caused her downfall. Starting off quite strongly, Richardson looked set to finish at the third position when just 40m was left to be run. However, it was MacKenzie Long who finished strong, to set up a 200m date in Paris.

While Richardson has stormed her way into the 100m discipline, she was hoping to replicate her performance in the 200m as well. Sadly, there always seems to be a tragedy involved with Richardson and the Olympics. Back in Tokyo, Richardson got disqualified after blood samples revealed THC in her system. She also lost her biological mother soon at the same time, further elevating her sorrows. Meanwhile, fans cannot help but wonder what caused Sha’Carri Richardson to lose her focus. 

Twiterattis cite lane violation to be playing in Sha’Carri Richardson’s mind

Following the heartbreak, the track and field enthusiasts came barreling down in the comments. They expressed what they thought caused the downfall. 

Suggesting that the lane violation warning Sha’Carri Richardson received during the semifinals might have mentally affected her during the finals, one fan shared their personal opinion. The fan commented, “that lane violation f**ked with Sha’cari”.

Many fans speculated that probably the pressure of potentially being disqualified due to a similar mistake could have distracted her. And that might have contributed to her fourth-place finish in the 200m trials. Another fan added, “I knew Sha’Carri wouldn’t make it after that lane violation warning. Messed up her confidence. But congrats to the rest of our girls.” However, they are remaining optimistic about Richardson’s performance in the 100-meter category at Paris.

On the same line, another noticed how Sha’Carri was probably unable to give her best as she was cautious about the warning. And that made her concentrate more on not getting disqualified than winning the dash. “she was running a little too cautiously. It’s ok she is a threat to the 100 and 4×100. Two potential medals for her. She can focus on the 100 now.”, added the fan. However, fans are also staying optimistic for Richardson’s win in the 100 meter and the relay.

The awareness of potentially being disqualified due to lane infringement might have distracted her. And that also possibly caused her to run wide on the curve in the finals, ultimately impacting her performance. Referring to the same one X user added, “That lane violation threw sha’carri off. She went really wide on that curve”.

Receiving a warning for a lane violation could psychologically disrupt any athlete. And netizens are considering the warning to be the reason behind her narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the 200 meters. “Dat woulda threw anybody off after dat warning 😭 she gon dominate the 100 in paris”, added another netizen. Thus, with only the 100m to aim for, Sha’Carri Richardson must now channel all her focus to grab the golden snitch in Paris.