Just a few days ago, the 16th hotdog eating contest took place in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, and the famous American competitive eater Joey Chestnut won the contest. He received prize money of $10,000 and that became the stuff of what enraged Sha’Carri Richardson. Richardson compared it to the 1st prize money in the ongoing USATF competition, which is $8000. It is not the $2000-lesser-amount that upset her, but the blatant disrespect towards track athletes displayed via that paltry prize money that got Richardson upset. Now, another track and field legend from the USA has weighed in on the matter.

Richardson’s tweet regarding the matter went far and wide and people started supporting her for all corners. Even the great Carl Lewis, a 9-time Olympic gold medalist, is upset over how things have changed. Richardson, in turn, asks people from his generation, legends who led the pathway for modern-day athletes, to help them rectify the situation.

Sha’Carri Richardson gets support from a US track legend in her endeavor

Sha’Carri Richardson recently tweeted, “That?s a good question, I feel like your generation of the sport could help educate us so things can change.” She was actually responding to the great Carl Lewis, who was as fast as a bullet in his competitive days and inspired a generation. Lewis tweeted, “Hasn’t always been that way. What’s different now…”

To put more context, after Richardson’s few days-old tweets regarding how the USATF is mistreating its athletes by paying them less than a hotdog-eating champion, the sentiment spread far and wide. A tweet by a user hunterwoodall went, “Reminder that you make more from a hotdog eating contest than winning a USATF championship”, making a snarky remark on the matter.

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Upset at that news, Lewis responded with his tweet. Now, Sha’Carri Richardson, who is fighting her battle for the track and field athletes in her own way, is asking him for help.

Things were different for track and field athletes in the past

What Carl Lewis essentially expressed is that things were different back in his days when track and field and athletics, in general, was a far more respected endeavor. While the exact monetary amount of comparison with other sporting contests is rather difficult to dig up, the fact that people pursued it without hesitation and complaints like today is enough to validate Lewis’s point. Not just Lewis, but Michael Johnson too raised the issue of track athletes getting paid way less than other sporting professionals in America.

Sha’Carri Richardson has had many controversies in her past, but she is still not bogged down by the fear of it to speak her mind. Pushing the USATF to raise the monetary amount of prize for winners and asking for help from former legends about it is also part of it.

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