Sanya Richards (born February 26, 1985 in Kingston,
Jamaica) is a track and field athlete who competes
internationally for the United States. She was a
gold medalist in the 4x400m relay at the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Richards left Jamaica for the USA at the age of 12
and became a US citizen in May 2002. At St. Thomas
Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, she lettered
in basketball in high school and is a member of the
National Honor Society, ending her high school
academic career with a 4.0 grade point average. In
2002 she was named National High School Female
Athlete of the Year, USA Track and Field's Youth
Athlete of the Year, and Track and Field News
Women's Prep Athlete of the Year.
Richards graduated from the University of Texas at
Austin in 2006 with a degree in management
information systems. She is a singer and a dancer,
regularly putting on shows for family and friends.
Since 2007, she has been engaged to current New York
Giants cornerback & Super Bowl champion, Aaron Ross.
They have been dating since 2003.
She has won a silver medal in the 400 meters at 2005
World Championships in Athletics. In 2006, together
with Jeremy Wariner (400 m) and Asafa Powell (100 m)
she won her sixth out of six Golden League events
(100 m) in the same season, which earned her a total
of $250,000. She broke Valerie Brisco-Hooks' US
record of 48.83 with a 48.70 at the end of the 2006
season and was named IAAF 2006 Female World Athlete
of the Year.
