American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson should not have been arrested on domestic violence charges last week, her boyfriend and fellow sprinter Christian Coleman has claimed.
Last week, Richardson was arrested on a fourth-degree domestic violence offense for allegedly assaulting Coleman at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. She was booked into South Correctional Entity (SCORE) in Des Moines, Washington, for more than 18 hours.
Now Coleman has broken his silence after competing at the the US championships in Oregon this weekend and said his girlfriend did not deserve to spend the night in jail.
‘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.’
Footage of the alleged incident was reportedly captured on security camera, with cops deeming it enough probable cause to arrest her.
The officer reviewed camera footage and observed Richardson reaching out with her left arm and grabbing Coleman’s backpack before yanking it away. She then appeared to get in his way as he tried to step around her. Coleman was then shoved into a wall.
Sha’Carri Richardson was arrested at a Seattle airport Sunday on a domestic violence charge
Christian Coleman, her boyfriend involved in the incident, has publicly defended her
The report later said that Richardson seemingly threw an item at Coleman, which the TSA indicated may have been headphones.
But speaking Sunday, Coleman insisted that it was time to move forward.
‘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 said that Richardson will eventually bounce back from last week’s incident. The U.S. championships seemed to come too soon for her this weekend, though.
She narrowly missed qualifying for the 200-meter final Sunday, finishing fourth in her heat in a time of 22.56 seconds
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.
Coleman is said to have told police officers that he has dated his fellow sprinter for two years
‘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.’
This was Richardson’s first 200 race of the season. She won a bronze medal at the distance during the 2023 world championships in Budapest.
It was part of a stellar showing at worlds that season, as she also won the 100 and helped the 4×100 relay to a gold. A year later, Richardson finished with the silver medal in the 100 at the Paris Games.
Richardson had a positive marijuana test at the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials and didn´t compete at the Tokyo Games.
