Sha’Carri Richardson has never hidden the pain behind her power. The world sees a lightning-fast sprinter, bold on the track and louder off it, but behind the medals and the headlines is a woman who grew up feeling unwanted. When her biological mother walked away, a young Richardson was left with haunting questions: “What’s wrong with me?… If my mother doesn’t want to be around me, then I’m pretty sure nobody wants to be around me.” That kind of rejection doesn’t just vanish. For years, she carried that hurt in silence. Even though four years have passed since her mother’s death, the pain still lingers as recently seen!
Just recently, Sha’Carri took to Instagram with a now-expired Story that pulled back the curtain once again. She wrote, “I have gone so much through my childhood, it has shaped me to be the person I am.” And then, in a rare moment of tenderness, she added: “I love you old Sha’Carri Richardson.” That wasn’t just a caption, it was a confession. A conversation with the little girl inside her who still aches, still remembers, and is finally being told she matters.
But that little girl didn’t walk this road entirely alone. After her mother left, Sha’Carri Richardson was raised by her grandmother, Betty Harp, and her aunt Shayaria Richardson, whom she calls her “real mom.” Shayaria once told her, “I didn’t have to birth her to be her parent,” and she meant it. These women gave Sha’Carri a lifeline, a home, support, and love. Betty, known affectionately as “Big Momma,” became the heart of her world. Their love didn’t erase the abandonment, but it rewrote the ending.
Therefore, as Sha’Carri Richardson has been in transformation, she has started to reflect on that herself publicly. In a recent Instagram story, she had said: “I am no longer the same woman I was 2–3 years ago, and I’m not even the same woman I was just 6 months ago. In every aspect of my life, I’ve changed, and for that, I am grateful.” That is the healing force, without denying that bad things occurred but knowing that they do not run the show anymore. However, what has changed between ShaCarri Richardson in her childhood and Sha’Carri Richardson nowadays? And why had she been left by her biological mother, anyway?
What broke Sha’Carri Richardson once now fuels her fire
Sha’Carri Richardson has not made a detailed explanation of what actually made her mom leave but she has mentioned that she was “abandoned” when she was young . Even though, her mom was fighting her own demons. The official record says nothing, but Sha’Carri herself tells what heartache it was: she says that she was growing up on the streets facing poverty, and feeling like “nobody ever wanted to be around me.” Loneliness like that is profound, and the love she experienced after that was as well.
Her grandmother, Betty Harp, and her aunt Shayaria Richardson came to the rescue with an open hand and strong arm. The rule at their place was quite simple, love hard, finish what you start. When nine-year-old Sha’Carri saw Shay’s old sprinting medals, something clicked, she wanted her own.. That was the start of her therapy ever since; her turn of pain into purpose through track. But…
Fast‑forward to June 19, 2021: 21‑year‑old Sha’Carri Richardson storms the U.S. Olympic Trials in 10.86 seconds, then sprints straight into Big Momma’s arms. Moments later, we learn what she’d kept hidden: her biological mother had died the week before. “I’m still here… still choosing to pursue my dreams, still here to make the family I do still have proud,” she told reporters through tears. The triumph soured days later when a THC‑positive drug test cost her the Tokyo Games; she admitted she’d smoked “to cope with the pain.” A year of ridicule followed, but so did the rebound: 100 m world champion in 2023, Olympic silver in Paris 2024, and relay gold that same week. So, how different is 2025 Sha’Carri?
In Essence’s January cover story, she smiles, softer but steel‑spined: “I don’t have any darkness weighing me down… I’m not in survival mode—I’m in a loving energy.” Therapy, journaling, and a tighter online filter keep the chaos out; faith and family keep the fire in. And that healing energy showed up again on June 5, 2025, when she posted a tribute to her late mother on Instagram, marking four years since her passing.
The post featured a single red balloon reading, “I LOVE YOU,” followed by more balloons in the next slides, eventually floating free into the sky. Her caption read: “4 years since my mother transitioned from this physical world, I am grateful for a mother that made decisions for me to be the young lady I am today .” It was a moment of grace, no longer rooted in resentment, but in acceptance. Because for Sha’Carri Richardson, abandonment may have sparked the rocket but self-love is now steering the course. And that, more than any finish-line clock, is her real victory.
The post Abandoned by Mother at Childhood, Sha’Carri Richardson Makes Emotional Confession appeared first on EssentiallySports.
