Shakari Richardson withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics after being eliminated by the U.S. Athletics Team

After the US Athletics Organization announced on Tuesday that she will not participate in the 4×100 women’s relay, Shakari Richardson will not represent the US Athletics Team in this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

In a statement, the U.S. Athletics Federation expressed sympathy for Richardson’s situation-she was suspended for a month after testing positive for marijuana in the U.S. Track and Field Test in Oregon last month-but said it changed the rules after the game. It is unfair to happen only a few weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games:

“Although the USATF fully agrees that the advantages of the WADA and THC-related rules should be reassessed, if the USATF changes its policy only a few weeks after the end of the game, this will damage the integrity of the U.S. Olympic track and field team trials before the Olympics,” The organization said.

“All USATF athletes are equally aware of and must abide by the current anti-doping regulations. If the rules are only enforced under certain circumstances, our credibility as a national regulatory agency will be lost.”

more: How Richardson’s Olympic suspension is different from Michael Phelps’ 2009 suspension

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced on Friday that Richardson will be suspended for 30 days due to testing positive, guaranteeing that she will not be able to participate in her main event 100-meter sprint, although she won first place in qualifying with a time of 10.86 seconds. According to For the duration of her suspension, she may still be selected to participate in the 4×100 relay race. The date of the competition will be after her suspension (August 5th).

But Richardson is absent USATF’s final list, The organization released on Tuesday. According to the rules of the World Athletics Federation-the international federation that governs track and field-countries can take six athletes to the Olympics for relay events. According to regulations, the top four finishers of each competition in the Olympic trials must be included.

However, the last two positions are discretionary. This means that USATF staff chose not to use either of the two picks to select Richardson. USA TodayTo quote a USATF spokesperson, these two positions belong to the second-ranked runners in the 100-meter sprint: English Gardner and Aleia Hobbs. The USATF stated that these positions were chosen before Richardson chose to reduce the one-month suspension period, which means that allowing her to join the team will need to remove one of them after they are selected for these positions.

Richardson appeared on the “Today Show” on Friday, not only apologizing, but also Explain her use of marijuana (This is legal in Oregon, where the Olympic qualifiers are held): After being told by reporters that her mother-“a complete stranger”-had passed away, she used marijuana as a coping mechanism.

“We all struggle differently, we all have different things to deal with. But to put a face on, we have to go to the world and put on a face to conceal my pain,” Richardson said. “When you are faced with pain or a struggle you have never experienced before, what qualifications do I have to tell you how to deal with?”