American Olympic hero Sha’Carri Richardson has broken her silence after footage showing her shoving her boyfriend repeatedly has gone viral.
The video, obtained by Daily Mail Sport, showed Richardson screaming and shoving her boyfriend – fellow sprinter Christian Coleman – at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at the end of July.
Following her virality – and brief time spent behind bars – Richardson posted to her Instagram story explaining what she had gone through and what she’s learned from the incident.
‘More than anything, definitely a lot of self reflection, a lot of understanding of not only putting myself in a compromising situation with somebody that I have a deep care and appreciation for as well, is something that — holding myself accountable,’ Richardson said in a minute-plus video posted to her Instagram Story late Monday night.
‘I’m taking this time to not only see myself but get myself a certain level of help that overall is going to reflect who I truly am in my heart and in my spirit and not allowing this moment, but accepting this moment to be more.
‘So my only thing is, I want to be more — not just only for myself, for my family, my fans. I overly appreciate y’all supporting me and showing love and even holding me accountable to being my best self.
‘So more than anything, I refused to run away … but face everything that comes to me head-on because everything on the other side is greater but you gotta go through in order to get there.’
Notably, Richardson did not mention Coleman’s name once or offer any kind of public apology to him in this Instagram story post after the footage from the airport was revealed.
The video begins with Coleman walking into frame before Richardson runs up behind him and pulls on the strap of his backpack. Richardson is seen speaking in a heightened manner, but no audio of the incident can be heard.
After Coleman tries walking away, Richardson is then seen slamming him up against a support column – attracting the attention of other passengers at the terminal.
Video shows Richardson bumping into Coleman repeatedly after her first shove, before she shoves him once again – this time, out of frame.
When the two re-enter the frame, Richardson is seen continuing her argument with Coleman – bumping into him more and more as he walks toward a TSA checkpoint to get the attention of an agent.
An alternate angle appears to show Richardson throwing an object – possibly her headphones – at Coleman’s head before walking off. Footage later shows Coleman speaking to a group of police officers about the incident.
According to the Port of Seattle Police, Richardson told officers that the argument started because Coleman took her headphones from her.
‘Richardson advised she did not assault him in any way and the dispute was only a verbal argument,’ police documents said.
Richardson, the 2024 silver medalist in the 100m and a gold medal winner in the 4x100m relay, was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault. She spent 18 hours in custody before being released.
Despite being on the receiving end of her anger, Coleman broke his silence earlier this week and said he didn’t press charges and didn’t believe that Richardson should have been handcuffed.
‘For me personally, I feel like it was a sucky situation all round,’ he said, as per Citius Mag on X. ‘I don’t feel like she should have been arrested.’
‘I’m the type of guy who’s in the business of extending grace, and mercy and love,’ he told reporters.
‘It didn’t affect me. She’s a human being and a great person, and I feel like you know, we’ve been able to be really good team-mates all year.
‘We’re just two dominant personalities. To me, she’s the best female athlete in the world.’
Coleman continued: ‘She’s just had a lot of things going on, 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. I know it’s been a tough journey for her this year.
‘But she’s gonna bounce back because she’s the best female athlete in the world. I see it every day. She’s gonna be just fine. She gonna be good, and I’m gonna be good too.’
Coleman is said to have told officers that Richardson is his girlfriend of two years, despite their relationship only becoming public knowledge in February of this year.
The couple both raced in preliminary rounds at the 2025 USA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon recently.
Richardson posted a time of 11.07 seconds in the first round of the women’s 100m race, while Coleman ran 10.08 in the men’s heat, but the former then withdrew from the semifinals the following day. She was back in the field later on Friday for the women’s 200m.
Richardson hadn’t raced for eight months before making her return in May, that heat resulting in her fastest time in 2025.
As the reigning 100m World Champion, she already has an automatic bid to this year’s World Championships in Tokyo. Noah Lyles, who has an automatic bid in the men’s 100m, also announced he was pulling out of the 100m final on Friday.
After her prelims race on Thursday, Richardson explained why racing again meant so much to her.
She said: ‘Being able to compete; feeling healthy, going out there and executing no matter what [and] just being the best athlete I can be… just to run a qualifying round, show fitness and take the rest of the time to get ready for Tokyo.’
Richardson previously landed herself in hot water when a positive marijuana test at the 2021 US Olympic trials meant she didn’t compete at the Tokyo Games that year.
