Track and field fans are today (July 25) criticising Sha’Carri Richardson, who returned to controversial form with another ‘sneak diss’ directed at decorated American athlete Allyson Felix over the weekend. 

Richardson, reacting to the United States’ semi-final win in the women’s 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, was elated compatriot Kaylin Whitney and the team qualified for the final. 

The 22-year-old, who failed to make the US team for the championships, noticeably cropped Felix out of her Instagram story celebration. 

Running a cool, season’s best time of 3:23:38 in the semi-finals, the American 4x400m team comprised Talitha Diggs, Felix, Whitney and Jaide Stepter Baynes. 

The US team returned to win the final ahead of Jamaica and Great Britain for a third-straight hold on the women’s 4x400m title. 

Felix, though not contesting the final, copped her “last” gold to close an illustrious career with 22 overall World Championship-winning medals.

Never missing a beat, Twitter users condemned Richardson’s repeated snub of Felix as many chided the medal-less athlete for her ‘toxic’ social media aura. 

Others were disappointed that the former US champion, who missed the Tokyo Olympics due to a marijuana ban, is beset by a ‘delusion of grandeur’—overestimating her value to the sport before she has even earned a major title, for which Felix has delivered many times for the track and field powerhouse.

The Jamaican Twitterati reminded US fans that they have no one but themselves to blame for Richardson’s controversial takes and the disrespect meted out to Felix.

There were fan pages that defended Richardson by suggesting that her 2.2 million Instagram followers, not world titles or medals, ‘proved’ she was more popular than Felix with American athletics fans and didn’t need her approval.

So much conversation has swirled since the day-old Instagram story that ‘Allyson Felix’ remains a top trending topic on Twitter well into Monday afternoon.

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Richardson, for reasons undetermined, has had it out for Felix ever since the retiring star urged Americans to support her in August last year. 

Felix, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, praised Richardson as being good for the sport. 

“I know that she’s probably been through so much but I hope that she’s supported. I hope people rally around her. She has a great personality; she’s brought a lot of attention to the sport and I think she’ll be in the sport for a very long time.

“For all athletes, there’s so much that goes into it—so give her the support that she needs,” Felix continued. 

An obviously unimpressed Richardson claimed that Felix’s words of support were ‘not real’.

“Encouraging words on tv shows are just as real as, well, nothing at all,” she commented, triggering a wave of backlash.

• RELATED: Sha’Carri Richardson now losing race for support from US fans after ‘sneak diss’ of Allyson Felix