Richards has what it takes to make a run at stardom
Sanya Richards will be a star of the Beijing Olympics. She — along with Katie Hoff, Shawn Johnson, Michael Phelps and Allyson Felix — will capture America’s heart.
Richards, 23, has the good looks and the charisma. She is well-spoken. She has a celebrity fiancé — New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross.
Nike smartly chose to have her debut its U.S. track and field uniform — complete with the dimpled-fabric arm coverings and calf warmers that the company says provide aerodynamic advantages — during the Olympic Trials. She wears it well.
Coca-Cola, Nutrilite, AT&T, Hershey’s and Q-Ray bracelets also already have jumped on her bandwagon.
Richards is Marion Jones without the drugs.
All she needs to do is win, and she did that easily Thursday night, making the former Texas star the Olympic favorite in her event. Richards ran a 49.89, winning the women’s 400 meters by almost a full second. In other words, it wasn’t close.
"I think anybody who wins the 400 in this country is going to be the [Olympic] favorite, because I think it’s an event we’ve dominated,"
said Clyde Hart, her coach.
It’s too bad USA Track and Field and the International Association of Athletics Federations, track’s governing body, aren’t helping to promote the star in waiting.
The schedule for the U.S. Olympic Trials is a joke. The women’s 400 began after 11 p.m. EDT on Thursday, and it was run 10 minutes before the men’s 400, where Jeremy Wariner was upset by LaShawn Merritt. Richards’ victory was lost in Wariner’s loss. It wasn’t fair to Richards, and it wasn’t fair to the sport, but then, that’s why track and field is relevant in this country only a few weeks every four years.
Richards and Felix still can become the faces of U.S. track and field, but the IAAF is denying them a chance at history. Richards petitioned the IAAF in early 2007 for a schedule change that would allow her to attempt to win gold medals in the 200 and the 400. Michael Johnson and Marie-Jose Perec accomplished the feat at the 1996 Olympics.
Felix filed her own petition last summer. The IAAF rejected them.
"I really wanted the chance to run the 200 and the 400 in Beijing,"
said Richards, who was sixth in the 400 at the 2004 Athens Games but won a gold in the 4x400 relay. "It’s so unfair being that they changed it for Michael Johnson and Marie-Jose Perec. There could be a lot of athletes great in the 200 and the 400. Hopefully, it will eventually be changed, even if it won’t benefit myself."
Richards knows how to put up a good fight. Her story is another reason fans will root for her.
Richards was the world’s best female quartermiler in 2006, winning all 13 of her races that season. But last season, she became ill. It took more than six doctors before she finally was diagnosed with Behcet’s disease, a chronic condition in which the body’s immune system becomes overactive. Behcet’s causes surface lesions — she had as many as 10 at one time — and painful mouth sores.
She missed six meets, and at the 2007 USA Outdoor Championships, Richards suffered her first defeat in the 400 since the 2005 World Championships. She was fourth, denying her a chance to defend her world title.
"Last year, she was a courageous runner,"
Hart said. "When we were in Zurich, she couldn’t eat. Her mouth was ulcerated; her lips were stuck together. She had blotches, and it lasted for about three days. Yet, we trained every day."
The disease is incurable, but a specialist in New York has prescribed medication that has kept Richards’ symptoms under control. She said she hasn’t had an outbreak since New Year’s.
"There was a time it went through my mind, 'Am I going to get to the point where I can’t compete anymore?’"
Richards said. "It was challenging. But we got through it, and I’m here today, and I have a huge smile on my face."
It will be a million-dollar smile if she can win in Beijing.
