100m world champion sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson arrested for allegedly assaulting boyfriend

Reigning 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson was arrested last weekend for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend at an airport in Washington.

The American sprinter, 25, was arrested on a fourth-degree domestic violence offence, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press.

That was four days before she ran in the opening round of the women’s 100m event at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

The police report said an officer at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was notified by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) supervisor of a disturbance between Richardson and her boyfriend, sprinter Christian Coleman.

It said the officer reviewed camera footage and observed Richardson reach out with her left arm and grab Coleman’s backpack and yank it away.

Richardson then appeared to get in Coleman’s way with Coleman trying to step around her, the report said, adding that Coleman was shoved into a wall.

The report later said Richardson appeared to throw an item at Coleman, which the TSA indicated may have been headphones.

In the police report, the officer said: “I was told Coleman did not want to participate any further in the investigation and declined to be a victim.”

“USATF is aware of the reports and is not commenting on this matter,” the sport’s national governing body said in a statement.

Richardson has an automatic bye to the world championships in September in Tokyo as the defending champion.

- Agencies