Track and field fans across the Caribbean continue to criticise a CBS News report which claimed Sha’Carri Richardson was “narrowly beaten” by newly crowned women’s 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred.

The Saturday (August 3) article, published nearly two hours after the final in Stade de France, chalked up Richardson’s silver-medal placing as a “surprise”, adding that her fateful and “uplifting” comeback after a marijuana-related suspension leading to the 2021 Tokyo Games fizzled in Paris.

U.S. runner Sha'Carri Richardson got a silver medal on Saturday after being narrowly beaten by Saint Lucia runner Julien Alfred in the 100-meter dash. https://t.co/sstN8cvxHi

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 3, 2024

The article confirmed a concerted effort from American media, led by NBC, to prop up Sha’Carri as the ‘saviour’ of track and field; spurred on by her impressive 100m victory at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Hungary.

“With her audacious hairstyles and fingernails, she came into the Olympics much-hyped by NBC and a few key sponsors… It took two years for her to climb back to the pinnacle – that came last year at worlds in Hungary when she won the 100-meter title,” the authorless CBS article noted.

“A constant presence on NBC‘s Olympic promotions, she looked ready for an encore on an even bigger stage. Given where she was at the last Olympics, a silver medal, with a chance for more next week in the 4×100 relays, isn’t bad. But hardly anyone had her playing second fiddle to the sprinter from Saint Lucia in this one,” it continued.

Hours earlier, Alfred convincingly beat Richardson (10.89s) in semi-final two of the 100m, running 0.5 seconds faster than the American to claim one of two final qualification spots in a time of 10.84s.

The article amplifies a collective American shock, where, with none of the Jamaicans that swept the last Olympic final (Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce) present, no one had factored in Alfred staging a fairytale upset in securing the first-ever medal for St Lucia.

CBS News‘ story acknowledged Richardson’s poor start and Alfred as the ‘last serious challenger’, and even contradicted itself by noting that the St Lucian’s margin of victory—0.15 seconds—is the “biggest in the women’s Olympic 100 since 2008 when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won by .20 to headline a Jamaican sweep.”

The article’s perceived tone struck many frayed Caribbean nerves of X.com, where the respected publication was accused of ‘coddling Richardson while dismissing Alfred’.

Some argued that the article was clear ‘bitterness and American exceptionalism’ for missing out on the women’s 100m gold for a sixth consecutive Olympic Games.

Others took issue with the article featuring only Richardson from the semi-finals and not an image of the finals emphasising both the gold and silver medallists.

More still showed clips from the final, asking CBS News to identify what was “narrow” about the three-body length distance between Alfred and Richardson.

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