American YouTuber and streamer IShowSpeed (Darren Jason Watkins Jr.) isn’t ready to give up his sprinting career–he’s now set his sights on facing world champion Sha’Carri Richardson in a 100m race. The successful 19-year-old content creator has been adamant about proving his speed, having raced Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in a head to head 50m sprint, and less than two weeks later, announcing his plans to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games.
Ishow speed wants to race Sha’carri lol pic.twitter.com/AZ9ToE5icC
— Track Spice 🌶️ (@trackspice) December 8, 2024
“I gotta race Sha’Carri Richardson,” the Cincinnati, Ohio, native said during a YouTube stream on Friday, looking at an AI-generated video of Richardson beating French soccer player Kylian Mbappé in a race. “We gotta set that up. There’s no way Sha’Carri is faster than Mbappé. She’s not faster than me though–me and her gotta race.”
“If y’all don’t know Sha’Carri Richardson,” he added. “She’s the fastest woman alive–from my understanding.”
The streamer’s remark sparked a lively debate on X. “He’s now just too desperate after Noah beat him,” one user wrote.
Another chimed in: “Good idea. She’s going to crush him like she would crush Mbappé. It will calm his fantasies. All these guys who run 20 meters fast and think they’re a real sprinter–they make us smile and tire us at the same time.”
“Tell him to race her boyfriend,” another user added, referencing recent dating rumours linking Richardson and American Olympian Christian Coleman.
Other comments compare the challenge to the recent fight between Jake Paul, a 27-year-old boxer and influencer, and 58-year-old retired boxing legend Mike Tyson. The fairness of either contest, it seems, is questionable at best.
Alongside his energetic gaming videos, Speed has shown off his natural athleticism through soccer matches, backflips, sprinting challenges and jumping over moving cars. He was also a sprinter in high school but is now a full-time content creator.
Despite Speed’s surprisingly quick start during his match-up against Lyles in early November, the Olympian comfortably claimed the win. Although YouTube fans say it was a close race and Speed himself even insisted it was a tie, track fans know otherwise. “Now, everybody is scared to race me,” Speed said during a stream on Nov. 11.
Speed has 35 million TikTok followers, 26 million Instagram followers and 33 million subscribers on his YouTube channel; users on Reddit point out that Speed’s platform could help to bring more visibility to track and field, helping the sport to grow.
