This year, Sha’Carri Richardson has certainly faced her fair share of challenges. But the treasure may still be waiting for her on the other side. At least, this is what the 25-year-old sprinter believes. “You have to dig through the dirt to get the treasure.” While her on-track record this season was a bit shaky from the get-go, she was able to create a massive impact on her fans through her off-track projects. 

As the 2025 season comes to an end, Richardson gracefully embraces the lessons she learned this year. She also joined Alexis Ohanian’s track and field league as one of its advisor-owners in an effort to expand Athlos into a team-based league. And now, she has recently collaborated with Players Magazine for the second issue and garnered the spotlight. 

On October 24, Richardson and Players Magazine shared a post on Instagram showcasing the two-time Olympic medalist on the front page of the new issue of the magazine. In the black-and-white cover shot, Richardson looks straight into the camera, dressed in a dark top and matching bottoms. The look, raw, fearless, and chic, mirrored the form she’s brought to the track in her last race in Tokyo (4x100m relay). 

The caption of the Instagram post read, “From clinching the 4×100 relay gold at this year’s World Athletics Championships to having an ownership stake in Athlos to becoming a go-to face for Nike’s biggest campaigns, Sha’Carri Richardson dug deep to ensure that even a testing year still yielded success, on and off the track.” And then it all highlighted Richardson’s appearance on the ‘Players’ issue number two. 

It didn’t take long for the American athlete’s fans to take over the comments section. 

Fans rally behind Sha’Carri Richardson as her picture goes wild on the Players’ cover

Most of the fans expressed their admiration for the two-time Olympic medalist. One fan wrote, “No one could ever make me hate her. And that’s on Mary had a little lamb!” The way Sha’Carri Richardson has indicated her stance as a strong woman despite the past controversies and a difficult 2025 season, she deserves all the admiration she’s receiving. 

Meanwhile, many others highlighted the looks that the sprinter was rocking on the magazine cover. One fan commented, “She looks great! Love me some Sha’Carri!!!! ❤️❤️” Another fan put the spotlight on the Olympian’s hairstyle. The comment read, “Oh, what a hairstyle! Very pretty, as always…🫶🫶🫶❤️” And the others had the same thought. The entire comments section was filled with shoutouts like, “We Luv U gal 💙💙💙.” 

But there was one fan who decided to highlight Richardson as a star athlete with a heartfelt and powerful comment. The fan recalled the 2025 World Championships and highlighted how Richardson anchored Team USA to a win 4x100m relays on multiple occassions. 

The fan penned, “Listen everyone…this is my gurl here. Every time I watch her anchor the 4X100 relay in Paris in the rain, followed by the World Championships again anchoring in the POURING RAIN, I get goosebumps. She has so much passion and competitiveness. This lady is my favorite TrackStar…WIN, LOSE…DRAW. Keep digging for all your diamonds my girl.”  Richardson helped Team USA to 4x 100m glory at both the Budapest 2023 and Paris 2024 Olympics. 

The 25-year-old showed the world that while individual victory was beyond her grasp this year, she can still stand atop the podium with a collective glory. Take Athlos for example, where she joined forces with Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woddhall on the advisory board.

And now, after gracing Vogue’s and Essence’s cover last year, she became the face of Players Magazine’s second issue this year. Indeed, with her off-track projects, she has been shining brighter than ever, don’t you think?