Has Sha'Carri surpassed Sydney in popularity?

Obviously, she is more popular right now after winning three medals in a huge comeback after missing the Olympics. It will be interesting to see whether SCR gets any big marketing deals. SML did a big New Balance commercial and a pretty funny Sports Center commercial for ESPN. She also seems to have endless deals with everyone from Dior to Tag Hauer and Gatorade. SCR also has big endorsement from Nike and Apple Music but has not been in any big national ad campaigns. I would expect that to change in the run up to 2024 OGs.

Sha'Carri has a more interesting personality and is competing in a more popular event. Sydney was on top for a couple of years but also seems sort of like a robot and reminds me a bit of Marion Jones.

Well she went from 100k insta followers to over a million a week after she was busted for weed. Children follow and chase her down when they see her at meets. So let me know who’s more popular.

Thanks for taking a stand. You know, the thread is asking a question it's not taking sides.

Uh huh. Sure.

It took months and years to get those numbers. And I think those numbers are very much based on her accomplishments and standout performances. I wouldn't say hundreds of thousands are ride-or-die fans for Sydney. Sha'Carri can win over people. She always has something to say that goes beyond standard sport cliches and there's something very genuine about her. Plus she has this redemption story arc. People seem invested in her now, like proud of her growth even though they don't know her. And she is telegenic. So many great photos of her interacting with the other sprinters.

^^not to be a PITA about it. I see you say Sha'Carri is more popular.

OK, the thing is I find Sydney so boring.

Sha'carri has been more popular throughout. The stuff she does bleeds into traditional coverage. My elderly aunt called me last week when she heard on the news that Sha'carri did something great. She was all excited and asked me to explain to her what Sha'carri won.

There's no chance my aunt has ever heard of Sydney. She doesn't have internet and doesn't follow sports other than watching the Dolphins games.

Sydney got married, so now she's less interesting to men. Sha'Carri is still on the market, presumably.

At least Richardson has a personality 😎

Let's face it, fans like a human story. Imperfect person tries, fails and rises again to win. Richardson is that work in progress and we love to see her take her massive talent and figure out how to make it all work in front of our eyes. Sydney has always seemed like she has everything under control. Too much control. When Syndey shows up at a championship, she is going to win. I would rather be "no-drama" Sydney than "run-away train" Sha'carri, but I'd rather watch Sha'carri any day.

400h record was soft, it's basically the PV all over again. The 100 will always be the glamour event.

But men are not interesting to Sha'Carri. ;)

Sha'Carri was more popular among the general public than Sydney ever since the weed ban for the Olympics.

Yes Sydney has a WR but she never races and never speaks the media, what does she expect?

I'll even add this:

This time last year we were all gushing about how Athing Mu was great for American Track and Sha'Carri was everything wrong with it. And just 12 months later the general feelings about both athletes have flipped. Now people view ShaCarri favorably and Mu (And Syd) are catching a lot of flack. TBH it all comes down to the winning and the losing. But Mu and Syd can't win if they aren't racing. Crazy how so much can shift so soon.

Yep! 100%

Also, I don't think Syd M. cares much for the spotlight. If she can get the 400m world record her value and exposure increases big time, but does she really care? For SR, she needs people around her to keep her in check. Whoever was looking after her this year did a great job. Kudos to SR for getting her mind right and proving how good she is.

Sha'carri is having fun out there, and she smiles and actually shows up and races, SML never smiles and doesn't want to race anymore for whatever reason, so Sha'carri is much more popular.

SML and Mu have miscalculated their choices for their career trajectory this past year. Not racing your premier event for an entire year, especially an event like the 400h that requires perfect execution to perform in synch, will have a negative effect going into Paris 2024. ...the idea that SML can switch to 400 and medal is dubious too.

For Mu, in thinking that being a model is a legitimate career, she misses the fact that her modelling clout requires her also being an Olympic Champion. ...Not enough interest or modeling potential without the Athletic storyline attached. Now that she's got a loss on her previous perfect record, she needs to set a WR to attain her previous status, which would in turn amplify her modelling career.

So far, Kersee has not helped the career of these two premier US T&F athletes. ...and worst, he's turned some fans against these athletes by not representing in any competitions