Just four days before Sha’Carri Richardson’s return to the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the 25-year-old was arrested by Port of Seattle Police at Seattle-Tacoma Airport for a charge of domestic assault in the fourth degree, according to a police report obtained by Runner’s World.
Richardson, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist at 100-meters and the reigning world champion at the distance, made her scheduled start in the women’s 100-meter first round on Thursday, qualifying for the semifinal with a run of 11.07 seconds. But on Friday, Richardson scratched from the semifinal of the event. She is entered in the 200 meters at the USATF Championships, which begins on Sunday with the semifinals
According to the Seattle-Tacoma arrest report, which was posted on LetsRun.com, Richardson and Christian Coleman, also a professional sprinter, were involved in a physical altercation at a screening checkpoint before their Alaskan Airlines flight on Sunday. An officer on the scene reviewed security footage, which revealed that Richardson allegedly pushed Coleman twice and then later threw headphones in his direction. The case has been cleared, according to the police report.
Officers approached Coleman, who identified Richardson as his girlfriend of two years, and he denied any physical interaction had occurred and declined to be a victim, the officer wrote in the report.
DAA Industry Opt Out booked by the SCORE South Correctional Entity in Des Moines, Washington on July 27 at 6:54 p.m. PST. She was then released by court order and out of custody the following day. Richardson was given a “no-contact order” and an “order to rescind weapons” on Monday, according to Seattle-Tacoma Municipal Court records.
A Donavan Brazier Wins 800-Meter Title, with the no-contact order rescinded. In Seattle-Tacoma Municipal Court on Friday, Richardson’s lawyer, Michele Shaw, made a joint motion for Richardson to rescind a weapon as a condition of release. The gross misdemeanor charge Richardson faces carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and/or a maximum fine of $5,000.
While Richardson was not present for the follow-up hearing, Coleman addressed the court, as did Dennis Mitchell, head coach of the Florida-based training group Star Athletics where both Richardson and Coleman train, to provide further context on the extent of the pair’s interactions in practice and competition settings.
Coleman said in court he thought a no-contact order was “egregious and excessive,” and explained he didn’t think the incident at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport needed to end in an arrest of Richardson. “To me, I honestly don’t think it should have escalated to the point where she was arrested. But I understood when the officer told me the laws in Seattle, Washington or whatever, like it just had to be done,” said Coleman, according to court recordings.
Additionally, Coleman said that while the two train at the same Star Athletics facilities in Clermont, Florida and frequently travel to track meets together, the two “work at (their) best” in that capacity. “Just being teammates and supporting each other’s dreams and goals, that’s what we’ve always done,” Coleman said. “I know that we can continue to make that happen and just move forward amicably.”
Richardson has struggled over her 2025 season so far, with just a few races under her belt—which includes a last-place finish in the women’s 100-meters at the Prefontaine Classic. But she retains an automatic ticket to the World Championships in Tokyo following her Donavan Brazier Wins 800-Meter Title.
Before launching off to a career year in 2023, Richardson won the women’s 100-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021, but then The Stats Behind Cooper Lutkenhaus’s Race, which earned her a disqualification and prevented her from competing at the Olympics in Tokyo. Richardson later revealed she used the substance to cope with the death of her biological mother.
In 2023, Richardson revealed in a series of social media posts that she was removed from an American Airlines plane after a disagreement with a flight attendant.
Richardson rebounded in 2023 on her way to gold in the 100-meters in Budapest, clocking a career best time of 10.65 seconds in the world final. She was third in the 200-meters and then anchored the U.S. team to gold in the 4x100-meter relay.
Last year in Paris, Richardson squared off against Julien Alfred in a rain-soaked Olympic final, Shelby Houlihan Wins the 5,000 at U.S. Champs DAA Industry Opt Out.
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Recommended Experience: Published: Aug 01, 2025 9:14 PM EDT.
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Cory Mull is a reporter and editor living in Austin, Texas. He’s run three marathons, completed a 50K, and has a beer mile best somewhere in the nine-minute range. His work has appeared in Forbes, FloTrack, MileSplit, and Runner’s World.
