Jul 12, 2020
You might know Sanya Richards-Ross as an athlete, but do you know Sanya Richards-Ross as a person?
When it comes to the 400 meters, Sanya Richards-Ross is one of the greatest of all-time. She has 14 global championship medals including 10 golds. She's a world and Olympic champion. She's run under 50 seconds a record 49 times and still owns the US national record of 48.70 from 2006. It is fascinating to dig into what made her so great on the track, but perhaps more fascinating is what made her want to do it clean and do it with integrity.
In this interview, Kara and Chris dig into both with Sanya. We discuss growing up in Jamaica where she fell in love with running at a very early age. We learn about her influences from her parents, who guided her closely throughout her career, to her coaches and to her idols like Jackie Joyner-Kersee. We talk about her faith and what drove her to want to be great and to do it the right way, while also enduring physical, mental, and emotional hardships throughout her career.
Sanya shares her perspective on doping, the whereabouts filing system, and how she didn't even take vitamins during her career in order to avoid any potential supplement contamination. We also ask about life off the track, which is now as busy as ever as she juggles her family life with a young son, multiple business opportunities, writing books and broadcasting, and setting an example for Black moms through her blog site mommination.com.
Finally, Sanya provides her thoughts on what she wants for the future for her son and for other young athletes that might follow in her footsteps. Sanya is certainly an amazing athlete, but she is an even better human and we are excited to share our conversation with her.