Sha’Carri Richardson has said that it’s taken a village to get her to where she is today, a group that includes grandmother Betty Harp and her aunt Shay Richardson, whom she calls Mom.
The two are never far from the scene of the professional sprinter’s triumphs: After clinching her first Olympic berth in a dominating 100-meter performance in 2021, the Dallas native ran into the stands to embrace Harp, who was later seen wiping away tears.
“It definitely feels almost better than getting a medal. It made it feel so much sweeter, though, the fact that she was there,” Sha’Carri told Today about the moment.
In the days following, a suspension for testing positive for THC derailed her plans to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, but she has since rebounded. In 2023, Sha’Carri won gold medals in the 100-meter and 4×100-meter relay at the World Championships.
Now, she’s set to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, starting with the 100-meter race and then the 200-meter event — and her family will be rooting for her.
“Without them, there would be no me,” Sha’Carri told NBC Sports in a 2021 post-race interview. “Without my grandmother, there would be no Sha’Carri Richardson. My family is my everything — my everything until the day I’m done.”
Here’s everything to know about Sha’Carri Richardson’s family.
Her biological mother died in 2020
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Not much is known about Sha’Carri’s biological mother, but the professional sprinter revealed that she died a week prior to her triumph at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Despite the unexpected loss, Sha’Carri vowed to continue chasing her goals and honoring her family.
“I’m still here,” she told NBC Sports after the race event in 2021. “Last week, finding out my biological mother passed away and I’m still choosing to pursue my dreams, still coming out here, still here to make the family that I do have on this earth proud.”
During a news conference afterward, Sha’Carri mentioned that she didn’t want to share further details but took the opportunity to express her appreciation.
“I am grateful for her giving me life, bringing me into this world … and I will always love and respect her for that,” she said, per the Team USA website.
Shay assumed the role of mother figure
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Following her biological mother’s departure when Sha’Carri was a young child, her grandparents assumed the role of primary caregivers.
Despite the nurturing environment, Sha’Carri struggled with her biological mother’s absence and experienced self-doubt. She opened up about her upbringing in an April 2024 episode of Quibi’s Prodigy series.
“I always was asking myself, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why is it that you don’t want to be here?’ ” she recalled. “Like if my mother doesn’t want to be around me then I was like I’m pretty sure nobody want to be around me.”
Her aunt, Shay, assuaged Sha’Carri’s fear of abandonment by promising never to leave. “I’m not going to give up on you,” she reassured Sha’Carri. “I’m never going to leave you. I’m her mom. I didn’t have to birth her to be her parent.”
Sha’Carri admitted that these words of affirmation transformed her life, and Shay remains a constant in it.
“My mom [Shay] has definitely been a pillar in my life to just be better,” Sha’Carri told NBC DFW in 2024. “Understanding you may not come from ideal circumstances, but at the same time, it’s not where you start … it’s the direction you want to go. I wouldn’t have even started running track if it wasn’t for my mom.”
Her grandmother helped raise her
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Some of Sha’Carri’s fondest memories growing up are of cooking and watching TV with Harp. The duo forged a close and impenetrable bond that has only strengthened throughout the professional sprinter’s career.
“From Day 1 up until now, always being in my corner, no matter what I did, no matter if it was good, no matter if it was bad,” she explained to USA Today in 2021.
“My grandmother is my heart. My grandmother is my superwoman,” Sha’Carri added, per Team USA.
Shay inspired her track career
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Sha’Carri’s life trajectory changed in the third grade when she stumbled upon a collection of gold, silver and bronze medals at home belonging to Shay.
“My grandmother made [my mother] a big plaque full of medals and I saw it one day and was like, ‘I want that. I want you to bring me one, Granny,’ ” she recounted in a 2024 Teen Vogue interview. “And [my grandmother] was like, ‘Well you got to do something to get some medals!’ ”
Sha’Carri continued, “Honestly from then on it was just like, ‘If you want to do something, if you want to be great, you got to put your all into it.’ ”
Harp directed Sha’Carri to Shay, who promptly took her niece to the track and started training her. “I ran her little butt,” Shay said in Prodigy.
When then-9-year-old Sha’Carri complained about fatigue, her mom encouraged her to keep going. “You want to be great, don’t you?” she challenged the future World Champion.
From then on, Sha’Carri started running, joining the track teams at her middle and high school, the latter where she began earning recognition for her speed and collecting accolades. By the time she arrived at Louisiana State University in 2018, she was ready for more and declared that she was going pro after one year at the school.
Her grandma flew for the first time to watch her race
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When Sha’Carri ran a blistering 10.86 seconds in the 100-meter race at the U.S. Olympic trials in June 2021 to earn a spot at the Tokyo Olympics later that summer, it marked a major milestone in her family.
It was a first for Sha’Carri, but another significant moment had occurred just a few weeks prior. Harp flew for the first time to support her granddaughter in her quest for athletic excellence, and the gravity of the gesture was not lost on Richardson.
“Running up in the stands to see my grandmother, in that moment, I was just so grateful and blessed, the fact that she could be there,” she shared in an interview with Today. “From her catching her first flight, probably ever, two weeks before that — and then again on a flight to come and support me in one of the biggest moments of my life.”
Sha’Carri continued, “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t even have made it to that moment, so to be able to share that moment with her was just literally unbelievable, unforgettable.”