Sport
London 2012: Sanya Richards-Ross wins gold
Sanya Richards-Ross wins 400m gold at the Olympics. PHOTO/Reuters
Disappointment, tears and that oh-so-unsatisfying color — bronze — are all in the past for Sanya Richards-Ross.
On this trip to the Olympics, she closed the deal.
Four years after a late fade left her crying and wearing the Olympic bronze medal, Richards-Ross won the 400-meter gold she always thought she could.
“What I have learned is you don’t win the race until you win the race,” Richards-Ross said. “I knew I had to cross the finish line first to call myself the Olympic champion.”
She did it.
Nearly banging elbows with runners on both sides of her — and with the defending champion making up ground on the outside — Richards-Ross got stronger, not weaker, this time over the last 100 meters.
She surged to the finish, won by about a body’s length and punched her fist when she crossed the line in 49.55 seconds Sunday night to give the U.S. its first track and field gold medal of the London Olympics.
