The weekend’s USATF national championships were supposed to be about fast times and qualifying for the world championships. Instead, they were overshadowed by Friday’s news that 2023 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson had spent a night in jail earlier that week after repeatedly shoving her boyfriend and fellow sprinter Christian Coleman during an argument. On Sunday, following his 200m final, Coleman spoke up, coming to Richardson’s defence.
🗣️ “She’s a human being, and a great person… She has a lot of things going on, a lot of emotions and forces going on inside of her that not only I can’t understand, but nobody can. She’s one of one. And I’m one of one too.”
Christian Coleman shares about Sha’Carri Richardson’s… pic.twitter.com/kxaZHVhh8C
— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) August 4, 2025
“I feel like it was just a sucky situation all around,” Coleman said. “I don’t feel as if she should have been arrested.” He urged understanding for the sprinter, describing her as “a human being and a great person” with a “lot of things going on” and “a lot of emotions and forces going on inside of her that not only I can’t understand, but nobody can.”
From an airport argument to an arrest
The incident occurred July 27 at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington State. According to reports, Coleman attempted walk away from the altercation but Richardson was still placed under arrest. Coleman declined to press charges; Richardson was detained overnight at SCORE South Correctional Entity in Des Moines, Wash. and released by court order the next day.
U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson arrested en route to USATF Nationals
“Does she have things that she needs to work on for herself? Of course,” Coleman told reporters. “But so does everybody. I’m in the business of extending grace and mercy and love. I just look at situations like this to take a step back, analyze yourself mentally, and then just try to see what you could do to be your best self so that you can move forward.”
Keeping his composure
Despite the turmoil, Coleman delivered a double-season-best performance in Eugene, Ore., running 9.86 seconds in the 100m for fifth place and 20.02 in the 200m for sixth.
Comments on Reddit captured track fans marvelling at Coleman’s composure, with one user writing “9.86 with a broken heart is crazy.”
“Poor Coleman–makes his 9.86 that much more impressive,” another chimed in. “Hope he can rebound next year.”
Richardson, who holds a bye to this year’s world championships in the 100m, withdrew from that event’s semi-final on Friday but ran the 200m, where she missed the final by 0.01 seconds, clocking 22.56.
