One of the world’s best athletes in the women’s 400m, Sanya Richards-Ross has announced that the Rio 2016 Olympic Games would end her final season as a professional athlete.
The 31-year old quartermiler made the announcement via social media site, Instagram on Monday, April 25. She said:
“After over a decade of indescribable successes and challenges, the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will mark the end of my 12th and final professional season. After my third foot surgery last November, I worked tirelessly to recoup and recover.
“I put my blood, sweat and tears into the career of my dreams and experienced profound growth and immeasurable rewards along the way. I am so excited to celebrate with one last lap around the world and I hope you will follow along.”
Richards-Ross is the reigning 400m/4x400m Olympic champion and has enjoyed an illustrious career which saw her win the world title over the 400m/ 4x400m in Berlin 2009, and GOLD and Bronze medals at Beijing 2008 amongst others.
She is the American Record holder with her time of 48.70s set in 2006, which is the 16th fastest time ever, placing her on 7th position on the all-time list.
The other women who have run faster include World Record (WR) holder Marita Koch (47.60s), Jarmila Kratochvílová (47.99s), Marie-José Pérec (48.25s), Olga Bryzgina (48.27s), Tatána Kocembová (48.59s) and Australia’s Cathy Freeman (48.63s).
The four-time World Champion over the 4x400m surprisingly lost her bid to run the 400m at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing after failing to make it to the final at the US Championships.
She however competed in the 4x400m where the USA team won a shock Silver medal after being displaced by the Jamaican squad.
Ahead of her final outing at the Olympics, Richards-Ross will be aiming to equal Pérec’s rare feat of winning back-to-back titles in the women’s 400m.
She however has her work cut out as team mate and reigning World Champion in the 400m, Allyson Felix goes for the 200m/400m double in Rio.
Richards-Ross is expected to open her season at the Penn Relays this weekend where she will be a member of the USA vs The World 4x400m relay pool.
The likes of 2016 World Leader (WL) Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas, Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, and USA’s up-and-coming star, Courtney Okolo, are certainly waiting to take over.
