Just a few short weeks ago, track star Sha’Carri Richardson revealed that she was healing from an abusive relationship she had with another female athlete. And now, the former partner has been identified, and has come forward to confirm the allegations. 24 year old Janeek Brown, also a track champion hailing from Kingston, Jamaica went live on Instagram for a recent interview where she addressed the situation.
“I admit I was abusive once that there is physical evidence of” she said with seemingly little to no remorse. “And we moved on…I was trying to move on and we still got nowhere,” Brown continued.
Richardson, a confident and flamboyant 22 year old sprinter from Dallas made waves last year dominating time on the track time and again while flaunting a bright aesthetic and a bold personality. Despite her talents, she was disqualified from the Tokyo Olympic games for smoking marijuana, prompting supporters to come to her defense in a campaign lead by the hashtag, #LetShaCarriRun.
While she never got the opportunity to join her team on the Tokyo track, fans continued to learn about the personal struggles the young athlete faced, including the death of her biological mother, who passed just a week before Olympic trials began in 2021. The most recent news revolving around the toxic relationship that lasted two years according to Richardson is nearly just as heartbreaking. However, she recently made the first steps to healing by speaking out about it.
“I was in a relationship with a Jamaican athlete that never cared about me from jump,” she wrote.
“I was abused and stole from yet protected her from the judgment of her country & family while they dragged me. I had to deal with homophobic and so much more that I’m still healing from.”
In the Instagram live, Brown said she couldn’t speak to the relationship between Richardson and her own family saying, “that’s between them.”
Brown also insinuates that Richardson’s decision to speak on the situation is “clout chasing,” and goes on to call her a “chickenhead.”
While Richardson continues to heal from her personal traumas, she also has a new reason to celebrate after winning the 2022 Duval County Challenge American Track League with a time of 11.27 seconds. Keep running, Sha’Carri! Nothing can keep you down.