Alexis Ohanian, the mam behind the Athlos women’s-only track event, has shared the similarities between Sha’Carri Richardson’s story and his while expressing his admiration for the sprinter.

Alexis Ohanian, the brains behind the recently held Athlos women’s-only track event, has revealed his admiration for Sha’Carri Richardson and how her story mirrors his.

Richardson is one of the world’s top sprinters following her gold medal win at the 2023 World Championships and continues making waves in the world of sprints but her journey to the top had its challenges.

She won the Olympics trials ahead of the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games but was locked out after a drug test that revealed she had used Cannabis. Following her one-month suspension, she explained that she used it to cope with the pressure of qualifying for the Olympics while mourning the death of her mother.

She has since bounced back to win gold at the Worlds, Olympics silver in 100m and gold in 4×1-00m relay to put herself on the man as one of the superstars in track and field.

“I see some Sha’Carri clips, and I’m like, wow, okay, like I can’t not pay attention to her,” Ohanian said as per Essentially Sports.

“She’s got this amazing energy; she’s great on the track, and she has this big personality.”

The Reddit founder then weighed in on Richards’ doping ban which he termed “unfair,” drawing parallels with his own situation.

“I thought, well, that’s kind of messed up,” Ohanian, who is the husband to tennis legend Serena Williams said of Richardson’s ban.

“I lost my mom when I was just starting out. Reddit, um, I definitely self-medicated quite a bit, using the Mary Jane [Cannabis].

“I’m like, I know that’s not a performance-enhancing drug. I realize it’s important to have drug testing; I get it. But, like, you can kind of pick and choose what the drug should be, and that one doesn’t seem like a very important one.”

Ohanian has been forthright in his push for female athletes to get recognition and earn what they deserve and put his money where his mouth is with the highly successful Athlos meet where each winner walked home with $60,000.

Richardson was, however, among the top names who missed out and will be hoping to be involved in the next edition.