Sha’Carri offered free J’can vacation to slow down

After sputtering to last place behind a trio of Jamaican sprinters in a hyped clash in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sha’Carri Richardson has been offered a complimentary vacation to the island as an olive branch.

Richardson engaged in a post-race tirade to journalists after being whipped in the 100m by eventual winner Elaine Thompson Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson.

Delroy Allen, owner and managing director of Takuma Boutique Hotel in Montego Bay, extended a complimentary one-week, all-inclusive vacation stay for the American sprinter, whose 30-day suspension excluded her from participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after testing positive for marijuana.

Allen, who is based in Boston in the United States but hails from Mount Zion, views Richardson “as a talented but troubled athlete in deep pain” desperately in need of spiritual and emotional renewal. He said that the vacation offer was the Christian thing to do.

“I know of the challenges that athletes sometimes face, and it is in the spirit of goodwill for her healing and restoration that I am making this offer,” Allen told The Gleaner.

“We’re a forgiving people, and the right and human thing to do is to push the unfortunate comments aside and help this young lady find her feet.”

The boutique hotel is named after Allen’s great-great-grandfather.

– Dave Rodney