Sha’Carri Richardson Surprisingly Gracing Jamaica Invitational Has Fans Going Wild: ‘Wouldn’t Have Recognized Her’

Sha’Carri Richardson has her plate full at the moment with the Olympics just over two months away. While the world’s fastest woman is determined to make the most of the remaining time to bring out her A-game, not all of it involves training for hours on the track. The 2023 World Championships gold medalist is taking all the notes from wherever she can and recently paid a surprise visit to the Jamaican Invitational.

The Jamaican Athletics Invitational dished out some thrilling performances from the world’s top track and field stars on May 11 in Kingston’s National Stadium. While some thunderous names were keen to set the tracks on fire, Sha’Carri did not want to miss the chance of witnessing and supporting American sprinters.

Track Spice shared an image on X showing the 24-year-old in the stands at the invitational event. “Sha’carri Richardson in the stands at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational,” reads the caption of the post. The sprinter was seen posing candidly with a fan. Making sure not to draw any attention to her, Richardson was seen ditching her otherwise signature fluorescent look for a girl-next-door vibe.

The Jamaica Invitational wasn’t all that great for the American sprinters. In the men’s 100m event, both Olympic aspirants Fred Kerley and Christian Coleman suffered a major blow with Britain’s Zharnel Hughes picking up the win. Hughes finished with an impressive 19.96s (his fourth-fastest career time) ahead of Fred Kerley in 20.17s, while Frenchman Pablo Mateo was third in 20.20s.

However, for US track and field fans, the presence of Richardson in the stands was one reason to be cheerful. Fans flocked on social media to talk about Richardson’s appearance with some making a Chris Coleman link.

“Am I missing something?” Social media abuzz with Sha’Carri Richardson’s Jamaica appearance

During and after the meet, lots of Jamaican fans were gathered around Richardson clicking pictures with the fastest woman in the world. Sha’Carri’s low-key fit surprised many of her fans, who didn’t hold back on their bewilderment on social media. One fan made it clear that she wouldn’t have noticed the American icon unless someone pointed her out.

“I wouldn’t have recognized her…“. But why was she there? Fans had an answer to that also!

At the Millrose Games, Sha’Carri created quite a buzz with her presence. She was also present at the Miramar Invitational- coincidently on both occasions Chris Coleman was a competitor. At the Jamaican Invitational the world record holder in the 60m failed to impress as he finished fifth in 20.46s. The World Indoor champion was off to a poor start that affected the whole execution of his race.

A fan went on to speculate that she was there to support rumored boyfriend Christian Coleman.

But some were more realistic in their speculations. This season has not been the best for Sha’Carri till now. Rather it started as a low-key affair with her somewhat disappointing performances at the Diamond Leagues. Notably, till now, she has only participated in 200m events, whereas, 100m is considered as her premier event. Her season debut in that will happen at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League event on 25 May at Eugene’s Hayward Field. She will compete against Africa’s fastest woman Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith, and world 60m champion Julien Alfred.

So some fans speculated that probably she is testing the waters.

It was one of those rare occasions when one finds Sha’Carri in her own skin. She chose to ditch her signature fiery red hair and eyelashes. One user was impressed an said they might be becoming  a “fan” soon.

However, another fan still can’t fathom why Richardson isn’t making use of the opportunities at hand, especially with the Olympics looming and for good reasons. The track star pulled out of the Miramar Invitational and the Diamond League, both of which presented the chance to test the waters ahead of the big rumble in France. But that might be a part of a bigger scheme of things as Justin Gatlin had pointed out a few days back.

According to Gatlin, Sha’Carri’s coach (who also used to be the coach of Gatlin) prefers to start the season with races that will eventually lead to the athlete’s signature event. Going by this, we can assume that the 200m events were just warmups, and these outings might have been recovery in between.

What do you think Sha’Carri was doing at the Jamaica Invitational?