Sha’Carri Richardson Is Going for Olympic Gold

[Commentator 1] That's one of Jamaican,

one of Jamaican [indistinct]

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[Commentator 2] Good- Oh wow!

[Commentator 2] Oh, look out.

She means business.

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[Sha'Carri] I feel like fashion is the flow of the body.

Fashion is the flow of expression.

Fashion relates to the way that I move my body.

The way that I run down the track is almost

like the same way I could strut down the runway.

Fashion and sports are one

in the same expression of self

and expression of flow.

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Beauty and the Beast comes together.

Basically, this is my own catwalk.

My lane is my catwalk.

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[crickets chirping]

It seems like a lot

of athletes move here.

I don't know if it's the weather.

I don't know if it's like the coaches

that are here, but this seems like the place

to be for athletes. [laughs]

[gentle music]

I just think it's important

that she is in the environment that she trains in

to honor how she expresses herself.

[Speaker] What?

[people laughing]

[people chattering]

Key gives me an energy

that even while she's doing my hair,

I can almost like feel her genuineness going

into my scalp.

Just her coming in with different ideas,

I'm like, I'm with it.

Like, let's do it.

Like what else you wanna do?

I only could get

to this point through experience

and having the right people around me.

I know that no matter what I do,

no matter what decision I made,

I know that it comes from me.

[upbeat music]

[Announcer] This could be her moment.

This should be her moment.

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[gun firing]

[Interviewer] Where'd you get the idea for that?

My head.

[all laughing]

'Cause I was like, I don't know,

she didn't like her hair.

Why does she still have the wig on?

And I see her rip it.

I was like, Oh my God.

Yes, ma'am.

I know that's right.

And I understood the symbolism

when she did it.

Like I understand where she was coming from.

I'm not gonna change the confidence

that I have in myself ever,

but at the same time I have learned

that there's a way that I can carry

that so much more gracefully.

That's what really that moment came from.

I actually grind some nails

because of my grandmother.

She could grow her natural nails out this long

and I'm not even over exaggerating it.

That was something I noticed it

when I was younger, just always stuck with me.

These are like more acrylic, but that's fine. [laughs]

[Announcer] Last year's women's hundred meters winner,

the American Florence Griffith Joiner.

Seeing Flo-Jo, her style as well as Gail,

just showing their different approaches,

how they come to the line.

The blue, the white, the red, the gold.

She did her thing.

Oh my God.

Wait, what's the five for?

[Sha'Carri] The lane. Five is my favorite lane.

And then lane nine,

which is a historical lane setting a championship record.

[Commentator] Sha'Carri's done it!

That was the inspiration behind the nails.

[Announcer] Their queen of the track,

Florence Griffith Joiner is here

and the fastest woman on earth with the Hollywood style.

I more so found my interest in Flo-Jo

after the fact of finding my love for track through my mom.

It hurt me, but it didn't bother me.

I know that I'm a champion.

Flo-Jo's influence on me definitely comes

from her creativity and it her freedom

to just express herself in a way

that no other female athlete honestly had ever done.

Showing beauty, yet being able to show hard work,

applying to each other.

There are a lot of parallels between Flo-Jo

and Sha'Carri.

They both have a very distinct style,

like very independent, strong women.

They like to show themselves on the track.

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[Sha'Carri] I wanna make sure that my makeup doesn't look

lighter than what I am.

I'm a melanin girl, so I wanna make sure

that it match my skin tone.

[Sally] I'm gonna work with you.

[Sha'Carri] Okay. And you tell me

if you feel comfortable.

I definitely will let you know. Thank you.

[Sally] That's no problem.

[Sha'Carri] I don't wanna look ashy.

I want to look like a brown skinned girl on camera.

[Sally] You are a brown-skinned girl.

So yes, of course.

[Sha'Carri] I just wanna make sure

that that's emphasized.

[Sally] Yes.

[piano playing]

[upbeat music]

[Sha'Carri] My family, they never allowed me to forget

who I am and where I come from.

Little do they know, they recharged me.

I can go do this.

I can go outta the world and handle never comes my way

because I know when I come home

that this is gonna continue to be my fuel.

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That energy is becoming a new world in itself.

I feel like in other sports they show that, you know,

athletes can be fashionable just

as much as they can be athletes.

We glam up, like we put it on,

we step forward, we are ready no matter what.

Look good, feel good, do good.

That all relates to the mental aspect,

the emotional aspect,

and ultimately the physical.

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