With the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo only weeks away, track and field fans everywhere were stunned to hear the news that U.S. sprinting star Sha'Carri Richardson has been suspended form the U.S. Olympic Team after testing positive for marijuana.
The one-month suspension means that Richardson will not compete in the games this summer.
And while the no-tolerance drug policy of the U.S. Olympic Team is cut and dry, plenty of people have found Richardson's suspension ridiculous.
For a good illustration, look no further than a recent tweet from comedian Seth Rogen, who's on-screen weed use has made him a kind of torch-bearer of for the drug.
"Flojo" refers to legendary American track and field athlete Florence Griffith Joyner, who's hailed as the fastest woman of all time. Her world records set for the 100m and 200m in 1988 are both still unbroken.
Now just picture Seth Rogen hauling down the red track at that fast of a clip.
Despite the snarky support of supporters like Rogen, Richardson herself has maintained a posture of grace and stoicism in the face of the devastating news.
In an appearance on the TODAY show, Richardson acknowledged reality, for better or worse.
"I want to take responsibility for my actions. I know what I did, I know what I'm supposed to do … and I still made that decision."
Richardson did, however, explain that her mother's recent passing, which occurred just before Olympic qualifying trials, was a massive burden to shoulder.
"People don't understand what it's like to have to … go in front of the world and put on a face and hide my pain."
"Who am I to tell you how to cope when you're dealing with the pain or you're dealing with a struggle that you haven't experienced before or that you thought you never would have to deal with?"
"So I apologize for the fact that I didn't know how to control my emotions or deal with my emotions. I greatly apologize if I let you guys down, and I did."
Twitter users who saw Rogen's supportive tweet were more than happy to chime in.
It does appear Richardson will not be able to compete in the 100m and 200m sprints in Tokyo, she will be able to join the 4x100 relay, which will occur after the 30th day of her ban.
With all the attention on Richardson stemming from the ban, we can expect plenty of buzz around that race.
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