American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson took to social media last Friday night (May 27) in a show of support to her Jamaican ex-girlfriend, whom she had earlier this month accused of physically abusing her during their relationship.

Addressing followers on Instagram Live, just hours before competing against Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, Richardson admitted she also made mistakes in the relationship with the former athlete, who she has not named but who has been identified as former Jamaica sprint hurdles record holder Janeek Brown.

“I did go online and expose a part of my life that didn’t need to be exposed for the simple fact that I was hurt,” Richardson said.

“It is not OK to hurt just because you’re hurt.”

Addressing the wave of criticism her ex-girlfriend has been receiving on social media, particularly after putting out her own responses to Richardson’s accusations, the American said: “I would never allow y’all to attack somebody that I love, despite what had happened.”

She acknowledged that when she first spoke about the breakdown of the relationship, she only told one side of the story when, in fact, “during that time, I definitely was myself toxic”.

With that in mind, she called for persons on social media to discontinue their attacks on her ex, warning that “if you f%$K with her, you f%$k with me”.