Every four years, at every Summer Olympic Games, iconic snapshots emerge that immortalize feats of greatness that wouldn’t seem humanly possible if we weren’t glued to our screens watching them play out in real time. Florence Griffith Joyner (Flo-Jo) with her arms in the air, celebrating her world records for the 100m and 200m sprints in Seoul in ‘88. That time Vince Carter dunked on a seven-footer on Team France in Sydney in 2000. Usain Bolt in Rio in ‘16, a meter ahead of his competitors, flashing a smile to the camera. Every photo of Simone Biles. And now, we have Sha’Carri Richardson in Paris in 2024, sprinting to the finish line of the 4x100m relay for Team USA looking over her right shoulder, staring victory in the face.
“I may have to put it up in my house,” Richardson tells Unbothered over Zoom on the ground in Paris at the P&G Pavilion with OLAY. When I respond that they should hang a photo of that legendary moment in the Louvre, she laughs and says, “I’m right down the street.” But the “Sha’Carri Stare” is not the only image of Richardson that could adorn the halls of history. Richardson, like Flo-Jo and Gail Devers before her, isn’t just known for her speed. She’s also a beauty icon who leaves fans in awe of her nails, hair, and jewelry every time she sets foot on the track. So it makes sense that along with Olympic medals, Richardson is stacking up endorsements. Her partnership with OLAY’s new Cleansing Melts is a tribute to her grandmother (who she lovingly calls “Big Momma”) who raised her on the brand and serves as a reminder to focus on self-care amidst the pressure of being an Olympian.
Richardson entered the games with a whole lot of pressure. After the controversy surrounding her exclusion from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, all eyes were on the 24-year old sprinter to deliver the medals that were expected of her three years ago. Well, she delivered. After securing silver in the 100m, Richardson anchored Team USA in the 4x100m and it was her speed, resilience, and conviction that led the team to glory. Richardson is almost as good at going viral as she is at winning Olympics medals. From her now famous mid-sprint side-eye to her fixing her wig in the middle of a post-race interview, Richardson’s personality was on full display during the games. And over Zoom, it’s pouring out of the screen. With her Dallas accent intact, medal around her neck and hair laid, Richardson was charming, relaxed and exuding the confidence that comes with reaching the pinnacle of greatness, while knowing it’s “only the beginning.”
Here, Richardson talks about her self-care and beauty routine during the games, what she was thinking during those viral moments, and which one of her teammates’ voices pushed her across the finish line to first place.
Refinery29 Unbothered: Tell me about your OLAY partnership and how you’ve incorporated their products into your Olympics beauty routine?
Sha’Carri Richardson: As a child growing up with my grandmother, [OLAY] was something that I’m already used to. In my house as a kid down in South Dallas, [OLAY] was almost like a treat, like Big Momma was like, “This is mine’s. Don’t touch my OLAY!” But honestly, even now, present day, going into the games, the ability to almost access that inner child in me and have this partnership with OLAY is amazing. I feel as if the product itself aligns with my lifestyle. Even while I’m outside, and I feel the build up of being outside, running in the wind, against the wind, hot, humid, cold, warm, whatever the case may be, when I use my OLAY Melts, that’s something that continues to let me feel content. I’m able to decompress. I’m going to take the energy that I know I invest into so many other things and invest back into myself and my self-care. I’ve been here for over 20 days now! [laughs]. If nothing else was consistent, my skincare routine with my Melts was consistent.
So you run an incredible race and win the silver in the 100m. Then you have to gear up for the 4x100m relay. What was your self-care routine in between races? I know that there may have been some distractions with the practice facility incident, but how do you focus on yourself in between those two races?
SR: I would say, honestly, just focusing on myself consistently, and knowing that, yes, I may not be able to control certain things outside of me, but I can control my skincare. I can control my eating, I can control the energy that I apply to whatever it is that I am doing. No matter the day, no matter the event, no matter the issue, no matter the joy in whatever I was doing, I was able to sit in that moment when I’m cleansing my face and just be me. I can take care of myself. I don’t have to worry about X, Y and Z going on, but I can just worry about A, which is myself. As an athlete, having a routine is very important. Maybe not for everybody, but for myself, having a routine is almost calming. Being able to have a skincare routine, a cleansing routine, something that helped me decompress, was very nice to have consistently through the rounds.
I know a lot of people think [my look] is all makeup and stuff like that. But baby, that ain’t nothing but a good liner and a good spirit and good genes.
sha’carri richardson on her beauty routine
Is there something specific that your grandma or the women in your family passed down to you that you use in your beauty routine?
SR: I acknowledge one of the things I love about what my Big Momma and my mom let us know was look good, feel good, do good. I come from a line of beautiful, natural women. I know a lot of people think that it’s all makeup and stuff like that. But baby, that ain’t nothing but a good liner and a good spirit and good genes. And, of course, great products that don’t strip my skin, that don’t damage my skin, but also, ultimately, just build the naturalness that I already have to develop from. Even if you look at my nails, the women in my family have always shown me that the level of presentation of yourself has a great impact and you have a great responsibility to show to the world how you want the world to treat you.
I want to talk about those nails and your jewelry. I don’t know if you’ve seen that photo of your hand on the starting blocks, it’s one of the most iconic photos from the games. So how do you decide what design you’re going to do with your nails and what you’re going to wear on your hands for each race?
SR: I have a phenomenal team that I continue to trust and be vulnerable with, and they take that relationship and take that bond that I’ve developed with them, and they use their creativity to show who I am. So when it’s [before a race] and I see my nails, and I put them on, I know it’s me, but I trust them to be themselves as well, and we align. They’ve been my ladies for plenty of years, simply because I trust them, and I know that whatever they bring to me, they know that there’s something that they felt from me. They know what time it is, and they know that ultimately I always got to be different [laughs].
Is your team in Paris with you or did you get your nails done before?
SR: I actually got them done before. They make sure that I have them pre race to make sure that when I do race, I have everything that I need.
It was like the baton was just full of love and determination. I knew that when I had the baton in my hand, not only was it for these three ladies before me, but it’s for a nation.
sha’carri richardson on the 4×100 relay
Talk about what you were thinking during the 4×100 relay. Were you and the team confident you would bring home the gold?
SR: Oh my gosh, it wasn’t even about placement or being that specific. We just knew that if we were our very best and executed, we had the confidence and the faith. Not even just confidence, but the faith that we had in the practices that we put in, and the ability that each lady had, and also the trust that we had in each other. We knew that no matter what we were going to do our very best and ultimately deliver the gold. And so I literally just trusted every single body before me and it almost was like a chain reaction. My first lady did her thing: Melissa Jefferson. Then Twanisha Terry, Gabby Thomas. And once I got the stick, it was like the baton was just full of love and determination. I just knew that when I had this baton in my hand, not only was it for these three ladies before me, but it’s for a nation. It’s for a world that understands and believes in us four. So getting this thing and running down the track, I knew there was no option but to do my best and I did my best.
Girl, you absolutely did your best and it was incredible. Could you hear Gabby? What’s going through your mind in that final leg?
SR: Absolutely, during the 4×1, I don’t hear anybody else but Gabby. If it’s not her voice, I can’t hear it. Everything else is a blur. Gabby’s voice automatically sends me into a place of determination and it sends me into a place of I know what time it is. I know she did her part. Now she is trusting me. Now she is believing in me. Now she is expecting me. She has every right to, because she did her thing to get me to go into a different phase, to continue to transfer that energy and that speed in which we did. So she gives me the stick. She says, “Stick!” I get the stick. And she tells me to “Go! Go!” She doesn’t stop after just telling me to get the stick. She’s encouraging me on the way down the track.
That’s so beautiful. As an outsider looking in, to see the sisterhood and the support between you two is so beautiful. Okay, we gotta talk about the now viral look over at the end of the race. Were you looking at the camera or your competitors? What were you thinking?
SR: Honestly, that look over, if I had to just highlight anything, the look over was — it’s almost like it was a mirror on that side of me, and I’m just looking at a version of myself that nobody but me could see, if that makes sense. I looked over and I just knew that no matter what was going on, there was nobody that I was going to allow — even myself — to be in front of me. I know that sounds crazy, but I was in that lane and feeling like I’m always my biggest competitor [so I had to] leave my best on the track. I was just like, there’s no way that I’m not going to leave my best on the track. And so just looking over, it was more so showing that the hard work that all of us ladies in that 4×1 put in was not going to be in vain. I wasn’t going to even allow myself to not cross that finish line in first place and not get that medal, or to let down those ladies and the support that we received when it comes to us crossing the finish line, in first place as Team USA.
It was cold as hell. I just have to say that.
SR: I may have to put it up in my house [laughs].
Hang it in the Louvre!
SR: You know what I’m saying! I’m right down the street.
We saw you get visibly emotional on the podium when you were receiving your gold. I think we were all emotional for you. What did that moment mean to you?
SR: Getting emotional on the podium, that was not a plan, that was not scripted [laughs]. I would honestly say that moment was just a full circle moment, just embracing everything, not even including what had happened in the general moment to make it on the podium, but just embracing the entire journey of being just a human and growing, not even just as an athlete, but as a woman, as a spirit. It’s almost like one plus one equaling two. I was just embracing those two things at that moment to show that this is literally only the beginning. But I’m so grateful that this is the beginning, because, literally, there’s nothing but up from here.
Let me straighten it real quick…. One thing y’all know is that I’m gonna be me regardless.
sha’carri richardson on her viral wig moment
Your hair is always laid and looks beautiful right now. After the 4×100 relay, I don’t know if you know this, but a camera caught you fixing your wig.
SR: I actually saw that this morning. I’m just now seeing it. I know I did it, but I didn’t know it was on camera. But yes, I feel like that was a real moment. One of the things I pride myself on is I show the world who I am, literally, like, no matter what it is, the world is feeling my energy. We’ve all had that moment where we know something isn’t quite right, so let’s fix it real quick. That was that moment. But honestly, I was even entertaining myself. I knew the camera was there, but I didn’t know it was gonna be aired. I enjoy myself. Look, we all have that moment. Like, let me straighten it real quick. You know, let me make sure I’m matching the energies of the ladies standing next to me because every single one of them looking good. Let me make sure I’m on point. So that’s what that was. But it was funny. It’s funny that it was even a moment for the world to see and register. Because for me, it was super funny. I was just like, Yo, I know that I should not be doing this on camera, but, one thing y’all know is that I’m gonna be me regardless [laughs].
@presidente_parra She needs a gold medal for that pretty skin. #fyp #olympics #shacarririchardson #lacewhere #blackgirlmagic #4x100relay ♬ original sound – Presidente_parra
This is what we love about you. What is the secret for keeping your hair laid when you’re running at such top speeds?
SR: Well, I could soon be coming up with something for that… I have a team of a lot of beautiful women around me who pay so much attention to me, and they’re very attentive. Like, “Hey, I know you’re running fast, so let me make sure this stuck down.” Like, “let me make sure this is on your head the way that I know you did it. That way you can do your very best and you’re not thinking about anything.” So I trust my stylist. I don’t have to think about it. All that I have to think about is just being the best.
You look so good while you’re being the best and we applaud that. What current Olympian are you in awe of right now?
SR: If I had to pick any, any Olympian in all honesty. I will honestly, honestly say Sydney [McLaughlin-Levrone]. My favorite thing about her is her faith. Faith is something that I admire even in myself and continue to grow in. I admire that her resilience, her determination and her faith in everything that she believes is something that drives her no matter what.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
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