Sport
London 2012: Sanya Richards-Ross wins gold
The world’s top runner at this distance for much of the last four years, Richards-Ross has nonetheless been waiting impatiently for another shot at the individual gold she thought she’d grab in 2008.
That time, the final 100 meters of her race was a disaster. Leading coming into the stretch, she fell back dramatically, and a few minutes later, Ohuruogu was clutching the gold and Richards-Ross was crying in the lower level of the Bird’s Nest.
Quite a different result this time around, and quite a different scene at the finish.
“The run was phenomenal,” Richards-Ross said. “It’s very, very challenging to get on the Olympic stage and give your best performance, to balance your emotions and physical. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders. I kept telling myself, `You are the champ. You are the champ.’ To go out there and actually accomplish it is really fantastic.”
She’s been through quite a lot over the past four or five years.
Health issues almost certainly contributed to the bronze medal in Beijing. Richards-Ross spent five years fighting an autoimmune disease called Behcet’s syndrome, but after a visit to a different doctor, she thinks she’s been misdiagnosed.
Fighting her illness, which causes fatigue, sores around her mouth and splochy skin, with a new treatment, the five-time U.S. champion arrived in London feeling as good as she has in years.
