29 Facts About Sanya Richards-Ross

Sanya Richards-Ross is a retired American track and field athlete who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint.

At this distance, Richards-Ross is a six-time US national champion.

Sanya Richards-Ross set the American 400-meter record of 48.70 seconds in 2006 and was named the IAAF 2006 Female World Athlete of the Year, an honor she received again in 2009.

Sanya Richards-Ross holds the record for the most sub-50 second sprints in the history of the event, with a career total of 49 times.

Sanya Richards-Ross published her memoir Chasing Grace: What the Quarter Mile has Taught Me about God and Life in 2017.

In October 2021, Bravo announced that Sanya Richards-Ross was joining the fourteenth season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Sanya Richards-Ross was born on February 26,1985, in Kingston, Jamaica to Archie and Sharon Richards.

Sanya Richards-Ross began running at the age of seven and represented her school Vaz Prep in annual youth championships.

When Sanya Richards-Ross was twelve years old, her family immigrated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, so that she could attend an American high school, increasing her chances of obtaining an athletic scholarship to an American university.

Sanya Richards-Ross was a 2002 graduate of St Thomas Aquinas High School, where she finished with a cumulative 4.0 GPA and was pegged the 2002 Gatorade National High School Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year and the USA Track and Field Youth Athlete of the Year.

Sanya Richards-Ross attended the University of Texas, Austin from 2002 to 2005, majoring in business and starring on the women's track and field team.

At the 2005 Helsinki World Championships, 20-year-old Sanya Richards-Ross failed to maintain the lead coming off the second curve in the 400 meters final and was passed by the 2004 Olympic champion Tonique Williams-Darling of the Bahamas, who won with a season's best of 49.55 seconds.

Sanya Richards-Ross attributed the difficult loss to her inexperience as a young professional athlete, fixating on beating her main competitor before the final 100 meters instead of trusting her established race strategy.

Sanya Richards-Ross finished the World Cup race in 48.70 seconds, replacing Brisco-Hooks as the new American record holder in the 400 meters.

In Osaka, Sanya Richards-Ross ran 22.70 seconds to finish fifth, as teammate Felix successfully defended her title from two years prior.

However, in Beijing, Sanya Richards-Ross faltered, coming off the curve with a significant lead and having nothing left to come home.

Sanya Richards-Ross held on for the bronze medal as Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain and Shericka Williams of Jamaica surged ahead.

Sanya Richards-Ross won the 400 meters US national title in 50.05 seconds, 0.74 seconds over second-place finisher Debbie Dunn, and qualified for the 2009 Berlin World Championships.

The winning time of 3.17.83 minutes was the sixth-fastest time in history, up until then, with Sanya Richards-Ross unofficially splitting 48.43 seconds on her anchor leg.

Sanya Richards-Ross bounced back in 2011 to run a 49.66-second 400 meters race at the London Diamond League meet, just prior to the 2011 Daegu World Championships, sparking some optimism of rounding back into top form in time for the major competition.

In Daegu, Sanya Richards-Ross struggled to find her rhythm as she narrowly qualified for the 400 meters final and then wounded up seventh in a time of 51.32 seconds.

Healthy and well-rested, Sanya Richards-Ross began her 2012 quest for the coveted individual Olympic gold medal by racing a full indoor schedule to warm up for her outdoor debut.

Sanya Richards-Ross decisively won the 400-meter final at the 2012 US Olympic trials, tying the Olympic trials record of 49.28 seconds and earning a berth to her third consecutive Olympics.

Later at the trials, Sanya Richards-Ross finished third in the 200-meter sprint in 22.22 seconds, allowing her to attempt the rare 200 meter-400 meter double at the 2012 London Olympics.

Once again, heading into the Olympic Games as the 400-meter favorite, she shouldered the same pressure and expectations, but this time, Sanya Richards-Ross was prepared to maintain her serenity amidst the vortex.

The US champion willed her legs to pull ahead of the field with fifty meters left of the race and in the final moments, which almost mirrored the 2008 race in Beijing as Ohuruogu closed down quickly on the leading American, Sanya Richards-Ross held on to win in 49.55 seconds, finally earning the gold medal that had long eluded her.

Sanya Richards-Ross admitted later that overtraining, as she was approaching the closing stages of her career, might have contributed to the rapid decline in the latter part of the season.

Shortly after retiring, Sanya Richards-Ross joined the NBC broadcasting team as a track and field analyst for major events, such as the 2016,2020, and 2024 Summer Olympics.

Sanya Richards-Ross began donning compression arm sleeves in competition to hide her ulcerated skin, but as a fashion enthusiast, later embraced the extra garment as part of her trademark look.