It takes a whole team to create the fastest woman in the world.
USA Olympic sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson’s 100m silver medal win in Paris was thrilling to watch. Richardson’s incredible accomplishments on the track come down to grit, persistence, and countless training hours. But there’s also a team of coaches, nutritionists, family, friends, and many others who help Richardson soar. A core group within Team Sha’Carri is her trusted nail technicians, whom she turns to for her signature press-on nails she dons for all of her races. Nail technicians might strike outsiders as less important to Richardson’s success, but they would be sorely mistaken.
Paris 2024 has given us a lot to take in, including the exuberant ways many athletes have chosen to present themselves as they compete. Richardson has been known for her flashy fingernails since she quite literally burst onto the scene during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and she’s continued to push the boundaries of her signature accessory every time she takes her mark. I recently had the joy of speaking to one of the nail technicians, Kinaya Haug, who has designed a few sets of nails for Richardson. Richardson wore Haug’s designs while competing in the US Track & Field Olympic Trials in Oregon this past June, in which she won the 100m and secured her spot in Paris.
The Oregon-based Haug works with many athletes, primarily track runners affiliated with Nike. She loves having the power to help these athletes feel their best as they compete, and she relishes the intimate moments she shares with them as she does their nails before races. Check out our conversation below!
(This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.)
How did the opportunity to work with Sha’Carri first come about?
I had a client named Raven Saunders, an Olympic shot-putter, and we just hit it off and became friends. She took me to the track with my daughter one day, and we saw Sha’Carri, so I ran up to her. She’s always been a dream client of mine as a nail tech. Sha’Carri is our modern-day Flo Jo! Also, I became more involved in activism starting in 2020, and Sha’Carri is a big voice for Black women. She’s always been someone I was super attracted to, wanting to do her nails.
This year, I was invited to the Olympic Trials. I met so many cool athletes when I went, and it was so special to provide my service and my art to people who are literally donating their bodies for their sport— they deserve to be taken care of! While there, I ran into a woman who asked if I was a nail tech because she needed some press-ons for somebody. As soon as she asked I already knew. There’s only one Press-On Queen out there doing that.
They told me they wanted them long and to match her uniform. I busted my ass from five o’clock to one o’clock in the morning in my shop, messing with stuff, trying to figure out what I wanted to do, trying to plan it out. I finally finished and presented them. A couple of days later, she came back and asked for a couple more for the 200 meter. She ended up wearing my press-ons for the first 100-meter heat! I was just so jazzed that I could be the one to provide her with multiple nail sets for this event, and she finally wore them on the track. It was a really big moment, so exciting for me.
It was so special to provide my service and my art to people who are literally donating their bodies for their sport—they deserve to be taken care of!
You weren’t given much guidance and were encouraged to freestyle. What was your design process like? How did you come up with the ideas for press-ons that would be worn by one of Team USA’s biggest stars?
I have to make these so bougie! I want this to be over the top! They have to be flashy and get people to look and ask, what is that? So I went to the craft store and got as much stuff as I could. I just let it free flow. I grabbed a bunch of stuff that matched—kind of—and put it all together. It’s really exciting to do freestyles, but it’s nerve-wracking because you never know if what you create will be something somebody else likes. I had to sit there and think about every single nail. They’re all mismatched, but they all have to go together.
The second pair of nails I did for her are rainbow airbrush, Black hippie-esque. Erykah Badu style!
I’d imagine that applying these nails to the athletes and interacting with them in an intimate one-on-one moment before they run is a fun and rewarding aspect of your job. What’s that part of the job like for you?
That’s actually my favorite part because I am a yapper! I love to talk. I get so excited to get to know them on a personal level. When somebody is in the spotlight, I wonder what they’re actually like.
Since I’m a mom, I see everyone as somebody’s kid. To me, these are all just a bunch of kids running track and having so much fun. I get to know where they came from, how they like the area that they live in, and if they’re being treated right. The conversations are amazing; I love to get to know them. It’s so personal, and they’re all very nice people.
We’re all just people. We’re all at different parts of our lives and careers, so it’s really nice to relate. At the end of it, I’m like, that’s my friend! That’s how I feel about my clients. It’s so great to get that connection.
There seems to be a movement right now in which many athletes like Sha’Carri are reclaiming the power of presenting themselves in overtly feminine and glamorous ways, whether through their nails, make-up, hair, etc. They’re using their time in the spotlight to express themselves and their culture as they compete. What are your thoughts on this, and how does being part of that feel?
My favorite part is that everything that Sha’Carri does is deeply embedded in Black culture. That’s why I love this gig too, as a Black woman specifically— I get to work with many Black women. We love our nails, we love our hair, we love our lashes. We love to look so good and blingy and extra. But that’s also something we’re consistently ridiculed for.
For Sha’Carri to be like, I don’t care what any of you have to say. This is me, and I’m Sha’Carri, and this is my legacy. It’s so iconic.
For Sha’Carri to go out there and be like, yeah, my lashes are touching my eyebrows, and I have a bright orange wig on, and my nails are long as heck, and I have all this bling and the biggest smile on my face, and I’m doing what I love, and I feel great— that’s exactly what we need for little Black girls to be inspired. And she’s bringing it to sports! She is reclaiming that energy and showing her culture, roots, and where she’s from. That’s what Flo Jo did. Flo Jo was authentically herself and really collided worlds with beauty, fashion, and athleticism. She was like, I can be strong and be a bad bitch as well. It’s very powerful to watch, and I love being a part of it.
Black women are creative. We have so much creativity. In the beauty industry right now, there are a lot of Black women killing it out there, doing it for each other, supporting each other, and pouring our art and creativity into one another. It’s nice to see Sha’Carri support other nail techs—she supports so many beauty collectives. It takes a whole team to create the fastest woman in the world and help her feel good. What she does is mental, too! If you don’t feel like you look good, or if you don’t feel good about yourself, you’re not going to perform well.
Especially in this day and age, with all eyes on athletes across so many platforms, with every inch and angle captured, of course, they’d want to look however makes them feel their best.
Everyone always has something to say about you, even when you look good. Those nails are ugly! Those nails are too long! How does she do anything with those? How does she see with those eyelashes? For Sha’Carri to be like, I don’t care what any of you have to say. This is me, and I’m Sha’Carri, and this is my legacy. It’s so iconic.