Born in
Fort Bragg, North Carolina, she grew up in
Ohio and attended
Berea High School,
Berea, Ohio. After graduating in 1993 she went on to study marketing at the
University of Kentucky. While there she competed athletically for the
Kentucky Wildcats and gained four
All-American honours: she was an indoor
55 metres finalist in 1994 and 1996, a
4 × 100 metres relay finalist in 1996, and a
100 metres finalist in 1997. In 1997 she set a personal record of 11.28 seconds for the 100 m at the
United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She also won her first international medal that year, taking the gold in the 4 × 100 m relay at the
1997 World University Games. At the end of the year she ran a best of 7.20 seconds for the
60-meter dash. She came close to a medal in that event at the 1998
United States Indoor Track and Field Championships, ending up in fourth place. She failed to get past the heats of the outdoor 100 m event later that year. In 1999 she was a finalist in both the 60 m (sixth) and the 100 m (eighth) at the national championships. A second international relay medal came for Richardson at the
1999 Pan American Games, as the team took the silver medals. Richardson and the other runners filed an appeal at the
Court of Arbitration for Sport to contest their disqualification and retain their medals. After the Sydney Olympics, her career began to wind down. Her fifth-place finish in the 60 m at the national indoor championships was her last performance at the national level. She returned to her alma mater in the middle of that year and she became an assistant coach on the Kentucky Wildcats staff. ==Personal records==