From Jamaica to Florida to Texas, to Olympic gold medalist. The winding career and life of Sanya Richards-Ross reaches another chapter in London with the 2012 Summer Olympics.
2012 Olympic Athlete Previews: Meet BP Team USA’s Sanya Richards-Ross
Join us as we follow BP Team USA, a group of nine U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls that are aiming to bring home gold from London this summer. Today, we meet track star Sanya Richards-Ross.
Born in Kingston, Richards-Ross moved to Florida in 1997 and became a U.S. citizen in 2002, the same year she was named the National High School Female Athlete of the Year and USA Track and Field’s Youth Athlete of the Year. Just a short two years later, she was finding success at the highest level.
In Athens at the 2004 Summer Olympics, at just 19-years old, Richards-Ross was a member of Team USA’s track and field relay team, brining home a gold in the 4x400m. She equaled that feat in the 2008 Games, and also earned her first solo Olympic medal, taking bronze in the 400 Meters.
At the 2012 Games in London, Richards-Ross is competing in the 200M and 400M, as well as the team relays. She won the 400M at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, and finished third in the 200M to qualify for Team USA.
Richards-Ross’ athletic accomplishments are made even more impressive when you consider that she does it all while dealing with Behçet’s disease, a rare and incurable immune system disease.
More recently, Richard-Ross won the 400M at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, and was was the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year in 2009. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband Aaron Ross, Jaguars cornerback.
For more on Sanya Richards-Ross, including video of her telling her story, visit the official site of BP Team USA.
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