Just one month after the death of her biological mother, Sha’Carri Richardson accomplished a lifelong dream of winning the 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic trials in Oregon.
However it would soon come crashing down and her lifelong dream would become a nightmare as Richardson tested positive for a chemical found in marijuana.
The 21-year old was disqualified and received a one-month ban. America’s fastest woman would not be participating in the upcoming Olympics.
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No matter where you stand on the topic of Marijuana, this is a sad story. This wasn’t some 3-legged race at the local carnival. This was the U.S. Olympic Trials and this young lady dominated the race.
This wasn’t Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympics dominating everyone else because he cheated. Steroids can lead to domination – or at the very least, an unfair advantage. Marijuana isn’t the reason Sha’Carri Richardson dominated the competition. I feel bad for her – but only because I feel bad for people when they make mistakes.
We are all guilty of poor choices every single day. Just some of us don’t end up making the kind of decisions that end up making worldwide news.
There are two main takeways I have from this situation from a leadership standpoint. Neither of them are about the rule itself and whether it is fair or not. Neither of my takeaways have to do with Marijuana and whether it should be legal or not.
When looking at leadership, being a person of influence, and conducting yourself with integrity, those issues are not completely relevant.
My first takeaway is that rules are rules.
We might not like the rules but they are there for a reason and we know what they are. It was frustrating when the North Carolina State baseball team was disqualified from the Semifinals in the college world series because of NCAA Covid policies. However, everyone knew the rules and the possibilities that could occur. It was the same with the world’s number one golfer, Jon Rahm when he had to withdraw from a golf tournament because of Covid protocols when he was so close to winning. Sometimes we break the rules to gain an advantage.
Sometimes we break the rules because we don’t care about the rules, consequences, or think we’ll get away with it. Regardless, we know the rules and we broke them.
It doesn’t matter if everyone is doing something wrong is wrong. It also doesn’t matter if no one else is doing something, right is right.
We can work to change a rule later but as long as a rule or law is there, if we break it then we must be willing to accept the consequences of our actions.
And that brings me to my second takeaway.
It is absolutely rare in today’s world to see someone take responsibility for one’s actions but that is exactly what Sha’Carri Richardson did. She went on the Today Show and she took to social media apologizing for her actions and taking responsibility for her mistake.
She knew it was wrong but did it anyway and she was sorry for that. She was sorry she let so many people down. She gave reasons why she did it but kept coming back around to the fact that it was her responsibility to do what was right.
Most of us rationalize or provide excuses without taking responsibility. It is always someone else’s fault.
When I was a high school athletic director, we had 4 students get arrested and we followed the exact protocols outline in the school’s handbook in regards to their discipline.
All 4 punishments were eventually lifted on appeal. Every single appeal was based on an excuse. Not once did a parent say their kid didn’t do it and that they were wrongly accused.
Not one of the four cases saw parents or the student take responsibility for the poor choices.
Character is not situational. It is not a tumble weed blowing in whichever way the wind blows.
Responsibility is crucial to integrity.
Humans make mistakes. Champions take responsibility for their actions and accept the consequences of their choices.
Sha’Carri Richardson is human just like us except for the fact that she runs faster than us and is quicker to take responsibility for her actions.