Jamaican hotelier offers Sha’carri Richardson one-week vacation

FILE PHOTO: Ostrava Golden Spike
Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S. celebrates after winning the 200m Women at the Ostrava Golden Spike, Municipal Stadium, Ostrava, Czech Republic on May 19, 2021.
REUTERS/David W Cerny/File

The owner and managing director of Takuma Boutique Hotel in Mt. Zion, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Delroy Allen has announced that he is extending a complimentary one-week, all-inclusive vacation stay at his property for tough-talking US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, according to Jamaican publicist Anthony Turner.

“If Sha’Carri takes up the offer, it would put her on a track for spiritual and emotional renewal, as she would rise and shine each morning to the sounds and scents of nature in the quiet, cool hills of Mount Zion with a breathtaking view of the Caribbean Sea hundreds of feet below” Allen said.

Richardson was trounced by Jamaican sprint queens Elaine Thompson-Herah, who posted the second fastest time ever (10.54 sec.), compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who clocked 10.73 sec., and Shericka Jackson (10.76 sec.) in the 100m dash at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.

Richardson was defiant, despite finishing a disappointing ninth with a time of 11.14 sec.

In a post-event trackside interview on NBC TV, Richardson described her performance as “a great return back to the sport.”

Allen, a Jamaican, based in Boston, Mass. is a coach and former top-ranked tennis player from Mount Zion, nearby Rose Hall, in St. James.

The hotelier, philanthropist and tennis pro said he made the offer as he felt it was the Christian-like and benevolent thing to do, despite Sha’Carri’s disparaging remarks towards Jamaican athletes.

“As a sportsman, I have been watching recent developments with Sha’Carri and, despite her ferocious pronouncements, I see her as a talented but troubled athlete in deep pain,” said the tennis pro who polished his skills as a youngster on the courts at the Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay.

The Takuma Boutique Hotel takes its name from Allen’s great, great grandfather, Takuma, a prominent and feared spiritual healer who is alleged to have orchestrated the demise of Annie Palmer at the nearby Rose Hall Great House, Turner said.