Back to the old ways? Well, looks like the Anti-Doping Agencies are going hard on curbing unfair practices in the sport once again. Much needed? Or are they pushing it a little too further? Here’s where the divided opinion comes in! An array of athletes, from Usain Bolt to Noah Lyles, and Sha’Carri Richardson have time and again weighed in on the practice of repeated drug testing. But turns out, Richardson is going through it practically, again in 2025. And here’s her honest reaction!

Sha’Carri Richardson has sincerely abided by the drug testing demands of late. In 2024, while Richardson was in the heart of France for the Paris Olympics, and was shooting for Nike, when it was her turn to get tested as per the anti-doping schedule. And she showed up! Even previously, around April 2024, she had to go through a USADA drug test in the thick of the Easter holidays. While that itself may have been frustrating, she was summoned for another one just 48 hours later. But probably remembering her Tokyo doping debacle, she made herself available for both.

Now, fast forward to February 2025, and turns out nothing has changed! In an Instagram story uploaded by Sha’Carri Richardson on February 17, the Paris Olympics 100m silver medalist added a boomerang of her posing outdoors in a Nike crop top. With a wide smile on her face, she penned the story with a caption that says it all. “Clean, Clean, Clean” she wrote, with a smile, connecting the dots that she may have cleared her doping tests. Yes, plural- tests.

As per another of her latest updates, Sha’Carri Richardson got herself drug tested thrice this month (February 2025). In another one of her Instagram boomerangs, Richardson was the seen making the ‘peace’ sign with her finger as she wrote, “Durg test 3 of this month [sparkle emoji.]” And now, her latest February 17th boomerang leads us to think that she may have been cleared of all the 3 tests for sure!

Although Sha’Carri Richardson had a positive reaction, out -of-comeptition testing isn’t a plain-sailing process. Ask veterans like Usain Bolt and they’ll confess. This form of testing is random, unannounced, and not the one any track athlete can escape. Especially with the USADA, once you enter the drug testing pool, you have to list down your whereabouts constantly. This means not being caught off-guard when the officials show at your house for a random check. No wonder multiple athletes have spoken up.

• Sha’Carri Richardson had said back in 2022, “USADA act more like a PO but they say they care about the sport.”
• Tara Davis-Woodhall, the Paris Olympics long jump champion voiced her frustrations too. “As professional athletes, we have to be in a drug testing pool to make sure we’re not doping, which we’re not. And, um, we have to put in a calendar where we will be every day, every hour, including a 1-hour window where you will be home, where they can come and test you,” Tara admitted just how consuming this process could be.
• Hunter Woodhall highlighted how it can invade the thin line that one draws between their personal and professional life. “Tara and I were watching Mr. Beast games last night—shout out to Jimmy—at 9:00 p.m. Someone knocks on our door. Who could be showing up at our house at 9:00 p.m.? Drug testing. Boom….” he said.
• And Noah Lyles? He was among the earliest ones to have joined this party. “Just when you think the job is done, doping control comes take away the fun. It’s 1 a.m., I haven’t eaten, definitely haven’t slept, definitely haven’t showered. All I want is to go home.”

But the plague of frequent testing isn’t limited to USADA. Neither is this a contemporary issue. Per Usain Bolt’s recent stance, it looks like this has been happening since long ago.

Usain Bolt takes a stand on track’s persistent issue

Persistent drug testing seems to be a universal track and field-issue. At least, that’s what it appears like after what Usain Bolt confessed when he appeared on ‘The Fix’ on YouTube this month (February 2025). The 100m and 200m world record holder Bolt, confessed, “I was the most tested athlete ever. You can go on the website time, like we get tested constantly… One time, we got tested three times in one day… I am like ‘hey big man, come on,’ correspond with each other and get this thing right.”

Thrice in a day? Can you imagine that? Usain Bolt also clarifies the changes that have happened in this domain over time. He admitted that first, the pattern was limited to just urine testing. But then it evolved and started expanding to blood tests, and eventually a whole biological passport to trace the athlete’s whereabouts. So yes, the practices in this area have just intensified over time. And now, Sha’Carri Richardson is facing the same. But at least, she doing so with a smile!

She’s fast. She’s confident. She’s bold. She’s audacious. She’s a woman. She’s Black. That’s what I love about Sha’Carri Richardson, who has been on the path to becoming one of the most dominant sprinters in the world for years. She became an overnight sensation on June 19 after winning the 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, and then just as swiftly, she was put on a one-month suspension and was no longer able to compete in the Olympics after testing positive for marijuana.

During the Olympic Trials, I had no doubt that Richardson was going to win the 100-meter finals—it was just a matter of by how much. When I watched her fly through the finish line in 10.86 seconds, with beautiful form, I was in awe. It wasn’t because she made it look effortless, but it was because I saw how unapologetic Richardson is about the way she moves through the world. And as a Black woman, that moment meant the world to me.

Are the rumors actually true? Well, Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning 100m World Champion, might have just dropped a major hint about her love life! For a long time now, whispers have been swirling about a potential romance between her and fellow Team USA track star, Christian Coleman. But has she just put the seal on the deal by making things Instagram official in the first few weeks of the new year?

On January 9, 2025, Sha’Carri Richardson took to Instagram and added a story featuring Coleman. The short clip showed him rocking an all-black outfit—just a simple t-shirt and Nike joggers—while the two chatted casually. Also, the video was taken on what looked like a farm, with Sha’Carri playfully captioning it “Farm Trip” along with some fun animal emojis. Could this be the confirmation everyone’s been waiting for?

If not confirmatory, Sha’Carri Richardson is surely teasing her fans with these brief tidbits! And this is hardly the first time. Previously, on December 14 when the two were enjoying some quiet time away from their hectic lives, the Texan girl had added a similar story. Flaunting Coleman’s decked-up look in a grey tracksuit, she’d captioned the story, “Da One” with a relieved face emoji. This was just days after the two were seen leaning against each other comfortably in yet another Instagram snippet.

Richardson shared some images on her Instagram account last week showing her dedication in the gym and on the track alongside her teammates. The American trains under the guidance of coach Dennis Mitchell as part of the Elite Track Club along with other athletes like Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek. With the caption “Heart bigger than my body,” she made it clear that the goal is to perfect her performance.

This year will be crucial for the 24-year-old sprinter, who will attempt to defend her world title in the 100 metres in September, at the championship to be held in Tokyo. If she succeeds, she would become the first American to repeat this achievement since Marion Jones did so in 1999, following her first victory in 1997.

In addition to this, the season’s calendar also includes another event that could be fundamental for the runner: the World Indoor Championships in March, an event in which Richardson has never competed. Participating in it could help her perfect her first 60 metres in the sprint, but she has not yet confirmed her attendance.

The 2024 season was a rollercoaster of emotions for Richardson. Although she secured the Olympic silver in the 100 metres and contributed to the gold in the 4×100 relay in Paris, her performance in September during the Diamond League final in Brussels was disappointing, as she finished in an unexpected last place. Now her efforts are focused on overcoming these ups and downs and returning to the path of victory.

In an interview with Essence magazine, Richardson delved into the connection she maintains between her emotions and her performance on the track. “My heart is my brain. My emotions are my superpower and, at the same time, they are my kryptonite. I can’t enter a race without fully feeling the emotions of training, or the emotions of motivation, or the inspiration I receive from my fans, from my family,” she explained.

Richardson highlighted how these emotions fuel her passion for this sport: “When I step onto the track my heart fills with that, with that adrenaline that gets me going. As soon as my foot, my toe, hits the track, my heart confirms that I am exactly where I need to be and who I am.”

Her championship record of 10.65 seconds achieved in Budapest in 2023 places her fifth on the list of the fastest sprinters of all time. In that tournament, she also won bronze in the 200 metres and gold in the 4×100 relay, establishing herself as one of the greatest stars in athletics.

Beyond the track, Richardson has worked on her personal growth and has managed to embrace what she describes as her “softness and femininity” without abandoning the strength that drives her to success. “There was a time when I felt stuck, and now I feel that I love the softness and femininity with which I can walk,” she confessed.

Richardson attributes much of her success to the support she receives from her close circle. “I feel like being with people who pour into me has shown me I’m everything that I know that I want to give out to the world, and I know I’m everything that I feel in myself,” she stated. She also highlighted that “I know I have a community right here that understands, that cherishes me, as well as will correct me and let me know when I’m wrong. My relationships have definitely helped me be gentle with myself.”

The runner will not only face this season as a test of her physical ability but also as an overcoming of her emotional strength. As Sha’Carri Richardson looks towards 2025 with ambition, her followers and the athletics world will be watching what promises to be a defining chapter in her career.

It would’ve been understandable for Sha’Carri Richardson to get lost in endless questions of “What if?”

After finishing second in the women’s 100 meters at the Paris Olympics following so much hype going into the Games, the dominant narrative could’ve easily been that her silver medal was a disappointment.

But in a performance that will go down in sports history, Richardson’s sprint to Olympic gold in the final leg of the women’s 4×100 relay halted any doubts or criticisms in their tracks. Her win after heartbreak in 2021 showed resiliency and was an inspiring story that led her to be named the Outsports 2024 Person of the Year.

As the out bisexual athlete said after last year’s national championships, “I’m not back. I’m better.”

With all runners competing in a driving rainstorm straight out of a Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande collab, a slight handoff hesitation earlier in the Olympics race left Team USA trailing by the time Richardson took the baton.

Everyone watching knew she’d finish strong, but the question was: would it be enough to overcome the deficit and rewrite her Olympic story?

The instant she grabbed the stick, it was like saying, “I told you.”

It was one thing to blaze past the rest of her competitors in a way that made you wonder if she’d leave permanent scorch marks in the track. That would’ve been enough for a compelling story of perseverance and triumph.

But then there was Richardson’s signature moment: the side-eye of glory.

After bolting out into the lead just before she hit the finish line, Richardson turned her head to look back at the rest of her competitors and dismissed them with one glance.

By itself, her victory was iconic.

But Richardson, a member of Team LGBTQ, also pulled it off it with the kind of zazz that outshone even the gold medal she won. (Richardson is out as bisexual, having posted as such in 2015. Recently she has been rumored to be romantically linked with fellow U.S. sprinter Christian Coleman.)

The moment was a perfect coda to a saga that kicked into high gear when Richardson appeared to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 one week after finding out her biological mother passed away.

Maddeningly, after she tested positive for pot, she then got suspended for one month and was forced to miss the Games that she’d just qualified for.

Richardson’s victorious run in Paris was three years in the making. The fortitude she showed in coming back from the disappointment of 2021 and her second place finish in the 100 meters is what turned her into a great Olympic hero who will be celebrated for decades.

It was more than just a redemption story. It was proof that “I’m not back. I’m better” was the truth.

Previous Outsports Person Of The Year honorees:

2023: Kevin Maxen

2022: Brittney Griner

2021: Carl Nassib

2020: Katie Sowers

2019: Megan Rapinoe

2018: Adam Rippon

2017: Ryan O’Callaghan

2016: Chris Mosier

2015: Dalton Maldonado

2014: Michael Sam