?Start This Union That We Most Definitely Deserve?: Against USATF, Sha?Carri Richardson Leads a Movement No American Athlete Has Dared to Start

Sha’Carri Richardson?is ready to fight against the system. Since the new viewership policy was announced, many athletes,?including ShaCarri, have been raising their voices against it. According to the policy, the US outdoor track and field championship in 2023 will be aired on CNC and USATF.tv with a subscription. And, since 2006, for the first time, this 40-day event will not be airing on NBC.

This decision has stirred up many problems for media companies, as top-tier track and field athletes have decided to fight against it. Furthermore, Sha’Carri Richardson has also started to form a voice for the US sprinters. The athlete has decided to build a union to represent the US track and field sprinters. And to do so, Richardson has reached her target audience regarding her new initiative through Instagram.

Sha’Carri Richardson forms a union

After the new policy was announced, Richardson decided to take a stand against injustice by the sports media corporation. The LSU star has started to form a union for track athletes. The reason behind this union is for the athletes to have their own voice in such decisions. According to the athlete, the corporations have been making the decisions for them, which has led to less exposure and exploration of the track and field community. For almost a week, the sprinter has been arranging meetings and creating surveys for the athletes about this step through Instagram.

Richardson has already had two meetings to start the union. In the first meet, around 160 disappointed athletes who were tired of being underrepresented joined hands with the runner. The second meet was held on July 5, for which the sprinter had requested as many athletes as possible to join. In a recent video captioned “ATHLETES ONLY Meeting!! If you signed up, you will receive an email for the meeting!! Can?t wait to see & connect to,”?Sha’Carri was seen happily updating all the runners who signed up for the meet. Later in the video, the athlete also stated,?”Start this union that we most definitely deserve and earned,”?emphasizing the beginning of a platform giving voice to the underrated runners.

Richardson has a confident personality and is one of the most followed sprinters, with over 2 million followers on Instagram and half a million followers on Twitter. Her initiative has truly started to bring about change for the athletes. However, Sha’Carri Richardson is not alone in this fight; Michael Johnson, a retired legendary sprinter, has also fought this decision. The Olympic medalist has been actively sharing his opinion on the policy.

Michael Johnson shows his support

Michael Johnson, a retired gold-medalist sprinter, is extremely dissatisfied with the sports media. According to the runner, due to the lack of promotion of US outdoor track and field, corporations are using the sport to bring more value to their channels. Besides this, the athlete also called out NBC for repeatedly broadcasting America?s Got Talent on live TV and for being willing to ruin the athletes’ careers just to add value to the subscription channels.

Read More: After Calling Out NBC and USATF, Sha?Carri Richardson Set to Compete at US Championship 2023- Here?s Everything You Need to Know

Due to the efforts of such high-end athletes, track and field sports can become a huge influence, especially for female athletes, and also provide more viewership for the sports. For now, it’s unclear whether the decision will be reversed or not, but one thing is for sure, and that is athletes like Johnson and Richardson are giving their best for it.

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