The inimitable Sanya Richards-Ross is right up there when it comes to a head count of modern Black American sporting idols. Originally from Jamaica, the Olympic gold-medal winning quarter-miler wears this immense responsibility lightly but with ferocious pride, adding a dash of feminine charm, a no-nonsense attitude, a keen awareness of sporting politics and a deep understanding of the mental mechanics of professional athletes. As brand ambassador of the Airtel Delhi Half-Marathon, Sanya was at TOI's office on Dusshera, and as we found out, wasn't averse to dismantling a few sporting myths. From abortion issues to retirement blues to shedding retrospective light on the erstwhile East German doping machinery, she didn't dodge any questions, except the one on Trump.
Excerpts from a freewheeling chat...
How's India been treating you so far?
It's only my second day, but it's been tremendous so far. I've heard the Airtel Delhi Half-Marathon has done quite a bit to promote running in general. That the culture has changed and people have embraced running. I've loved to run ever since I was a little girl. It always brings me a lot of joy when people fall in love with running. I'm really looking forward to witnessing the energy on Sunday.
You spoke about a running culture. The US has a very robust running culture in high school. You were even the National High School Female Athlete of the Year once. We are struggling to replicate that culture in our schools…
I always say I got the best of both worlds because I was born in Kingston, Jamaica where track and field is the most popular sport and as I've been here the last couple of days here, I've realised the reason I was able to be successful is because of the infrastructure that exists. The people love the sport, the fans love the sport and the country supports the sport.
My coach, when I was 7, 8 years old, was the one who actually coached the national team. So imagine someone who has that expertise coaching you when you are so young. I think it starts with the country buying in and falling in love with the sport. You have to understand the importance of implementing it in high schools, prep schools and elementary schools.
Hima Das won the silver in 400m at the Asian Games (She bettered the National mark with 50.79s with the run). It just takes someone like that to go out there and experience it because she's only going to keep getting better. The first time you go, it's nerve-racking. Then you have that experience so you keep getting better. She becomes a role model and the younger girls want to emulate her and get better than her.
It's about investing in high and elementary schools so kids can start early. I started when I was seven and if you look at many of the athletes who have progressed in the sport, they start young, fall in love with it and understand what it takes - the determination and hard work.
What do you make of young athletes getting too much early stardom and sponsorships? There always seems a sponsor-PR mechanism waiting to feed off their early achievement. For instance, we worry about the celebrity status currently accorded to Hima Das, who is barely 18 and just begun her career…
I am not a big fan of young athletes getting tons of money and visibility. If they earn that money, it should go in to a deferred account which they can get at a later date. But to have access to that kind of money at such a young age, it takes away the hunger that you need to have to excel in sports. We see this all the time in America when athletes come out of high schools, get tons of money from sponsors and then they don't do well. You wait 2-3 years and you see there's a huge difference between a 15-yearold and an 18-year-old in terms of maturity. Makes you better prepared.
It's way too much pressure for an athlete to get too much money, too much stardom, too much fame. Because in sport, as you get older, it gets really, really hard to compete when you have a lot of pressure on you.
Also, is there too much money in sport? Should Olympians be paid?
Absolutely. At the end of the day, when you look around you see everyone who is participating in the Olympics is making tons of money. Everyone's making money - down to the photographers on the sidelines. I don't think it's fair for billions of dollars passing hands and the athletes who are putting on the show and have worked for four years don't get to reap the benefits of that.
Growing up, who were your role models?
My first role model was Merlene Ottey. She was Jamaican and I just loved everything about her. She was a huge hero in my country and I wanted to go see the Olympics after watching her success. When I moved to the US, the woman I really looked up to was Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The best part was that she started to play a very important role in my life - she would come to all my meets, talk to me or text me. Basically just communicate and encourage me. What I also loved about her was also the fact that she is also a huge philanthropist. She has done some amazing work in St Louis where she is from. I wanted to emulate that because what's more important than our success on the track is using our platform to help people. I think those are my two big role models. I got to meet Ottey years later but I really got to admire her from afar.
Why did you move to the US?
I actually made the decision when I was 16 when I was asked to join the US junior team. I had migrated to the US when I was 12. I had competed there for four years and the junior Olympics were coming up. I was invited to join the team and when they asked me for my passport it was the first time I realised that wasn't even an American citizen. So I asked my mom and dad and we sat down and weighed the pros and cons. It was tougher for my parents because they were in Jamaica for most of their lives. At the end of the day, they decided that running in the US was the best for me.
And it's a funny story. I went to the world juniors which was in Jamaica. Here I was this young budding star from Jamaica but running for the US. The fans were really cruel. They called me a traitor, they booed me. I had never experienced anything like that before. It affected my performance. I realised that it wasn't that they didn't like me. They loved me so much they wanted me to be a part of their team but they just didn't know how to express themselves. As the years went on they started to appreciate my performance even more even though I was running for US. I think my Fast Track programme put everything into perspective. I still think I made the right choice even though a difficult one.
How has the 400m evolved? There was a fantastic world record in Rio...
For so long the women have been stuck around that 50-second point and I was fortunate to run 48 seconds and be the first woman to do that for a long time. Now we have Shaunae Miller-Uibo who has done it again so I think we are making a breakthrough.
On the men's side I have to tell you I was blown away when Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record was broken. I actually got to commentate that race. It was actually my first race I got to commentate on for NBC and it was a World Record! I think I was the good luck charm. And Wayde van Niekerk ran in Lane 8 - totally unbelievable! I myself ran in Lane 7 when I got the best American time. It demolishes a lot of myths about the middle tracks being the better ones; you tend to get bothered about the other runners' race too. If athletes are prepared and focus on their race, maybe they feel more free running in the outer lane.
I think in the 400m there's like an ebb and flow. I don't think we're going to see someone run 42-secs just because we saw someone run a 43. Van Niekerk can run a sub-43. We'll see what he runs in 2020.
Speaking of records, what do you think of the current women's record of 47.60 by Marita Koch...
It's unfortunate that the record still stands because I think it's a tainted record. It's not even speculation. It's frustrated me my entire career. If you look at the progression of women's 400m it just doesn't make sense. All of a sudden it goes from 50 seconds to 47.6. That just doesn't happen. I do think that it's unfortunate that the records exists and I think it's unfair. It's discouraging because I don't think any woman is going to get close to that. I don't think it should be a record in the first place.
Wayde van Niekerk was trained by Ans Botha, a 74-year-old grandmother. Most Jamaican athletes too are trained by older coaches. Is the approach more modern in the US?
I also had an old school coach - Clyde Hart. He's probably 82 or 83 now. He coached Michael Johnson to the World Record and Olympic medals. I think there's something to these old school coaches because they have so much experience.
A lot of people don't believe it, but we don't ever train in spikes. We're running in flats and sneaker all along and sometimes the first time you're putting on spikes is at your first race. It worked for us so. I think older coaches have confidence. Athletes trust an older coach when he changes their training methods. I enjoyed training with an old coach. But inevitably, there will come a change and I think new coaches bring a new dynamic to the table.
Masking agents will always be a step ahead of WADA. What's your take?
When I was running, I always tried not to think about it because if you get caught up in it you get so distracted and discouraged. Now that I've stepped away from it, I hear a lot more about it. I was overwhelmed by all the information I was receiving. Unfortunately, WADA can't be ahead of the masking agents out there. If people are making new drugs, it takes a while for WADA to catch up quite naturally. In theory, WADA will always be a step behind. It's tough for WADA because they're always trying to play catch-up with these geniuses out there who try to beat the system.
We just had the 50th anniversary of the Black Glove salute by John Carlos, Tommie Smith at the 1968 Olympics. For the first time in decades perhaps, athletes, particularly black ones, are again making statements…
It's ridiculous when people say athletes should just be athletes because there's no way to separate your humanity because you're an athlete. I commend sportsperson who have spoken for the people who don't have a voice. I really admire athletes who are using the platform to take a stand.
I feel like there's a positive shift where people can speak out. I think if those things start to happen then inevitably positive change comes. I feel very optimistic about our future.
US Gymnastics is going through one of their own #MeToo movements. Does track and field have one too?
I haven't heard any rumblings in track and field, nor have I ever had any personal experience or heard about a coach like that. My hope is that there won't be any stories coming out of my sport. I think, in gymnastics they're a lot younger and are always with their coach. There's a lot of difference with how we are trained, and the periods of interaction etc.
What is your take on Serena's famous outburst at the US Open final recently?
I love Serena as a player. Initially, I wasn't offended by her outburst. When you are in the moment and competing, your emotions are running high. People said that Serena is a veteran and she should be able to manage her emotions. That's very difficult to do when you want something very badly.
As a black woman, it's hard to express our experience in the world. Serena is participating in a predominantly white sport where tons of things are happening to her all the time and she's always taking them on the chin. For her, it might have been a boiling point. After the match, she tried to make herself as small as possible so that the young woman could have her moment. I don't think it was her proudest moment. Given the opportunity, she might have done things differently. I think the point where she was labelled a cheater is what set her off.
We've heard and read a lot about Tiger Woods and his strange journey over the past decade. But it's always intrigued us how a black person and a black sportsperson would view it…
It's strange (but) I don't feel a major connection with Tiger Woods. People say that Tiger Woods doesn't identify himself as a black man. From the group of voices that I hear, he feels he is a mixture of a lot of things. If I we were to talk about him as a black man, what he has done for the sport is huge. But when things started happening to him, he was treated like a black man (Laughs). I am happy to see him rebound.
How big really is Usain Bolt for you guys?
If I was forced to choose the greatest of all time, without any disrespect to Jesse Owens and Michael Johnson, he is the greatest. He is a freak of nature because traditionally 100 metres male sprinters are more compact, they explode off the block and have top-end speed. Someone like Usain Bolt who is so lanky and tall, never had the best start to run 9.5 sec. It just defies logic. On top of that, we need to respect the mental poise he has and the toughness to come back to three Olympics and win the event that every single man on the planet competes in. Every athlete wants to be the fastest man…
Do you grudge 100m stars who take away all the limelight?
I won't say I grudge them because I could carve out a lane for myself. If you look at American stars while I was competing - the sprint landscape - I felt I was up there with Allyson Felix and whoever the 100m star was. I felt very fortunate, during my career people enjoyed watching 400m. I was fortunate to run at the right time, against the right athletes.
Where do you stand with Caster Semenya and the hyperandrogenism debate?
The thing that makes Caster's case so difficult is being able to separate her from the situation. That's why most people don't want to speak about it. She didn't do anything wrong. She was just born, loves to run and loves the sport. When you look at females running in the sport, you know that higher level of testosterone makes you better and faster. I am not a doctor and I don't know all the details, but from what you can see and what's being said, you can say that she has an advantage. The IAAF has a tough challenge in rectifying that. I was an advocate when they were telling her to take estrogen so that she was closer to where the women are. Then they ended up revoking that. My heart breaks for the girls in the field who don't have the same level of testosterone as Caster.
How do top athletes manage the end of their careers? How tough was your transition?
I think I made a pretty good transition, to be very honest. But the transition is always known to be very hard. I had seen so many of my peers really struggle with that. I think a year before I officially retired, I started to prepare myself mentally, spiritually and physically. My husband (NFL star Aaron Ross) retired two years before me so I got to see that transition. It helped me go through mine.. I was very prayerful and very reflective. I also started writing my book (Chasing Grace: What The Quarter Mile Has Taught Me About God and Life) which also helped me to be introspective and grateful. I think that sometimes you walk away from the sport and you have all this regret about how things could've gone. I totally wish 2016 would've been that dream season, but I won the Olympics in 2012 and I broke the American record. Yeah, I did struggle to watch track and field for about six months after that.
There is an onus on athletes to make their sport attractive on TV. You were known for putting an emphasis on your looks during races…
I started taking an interest in my appearance on the track, when someone who told me 'Hey, this is your job. You can't show up at work like that. You need to look presentable.' It started to resonate with me when there was a study done that most young girls fall out of sports between the age of 11 and 14 mostly because they start to explore their femininity and doing sports could alter their body, maybe make them look more tomboy-ish because they feel more 'girly'. For me, it was important for young girls to see other 'girly' girls who are fine with putting on a mascara and looking pretty on the track. It does enhance your self-esteem a little bit. I remember sitting in my room before the 2012 Olympics final, I was putting my make up on and I felt like I was putting on my uniform. It was like my war face.
What are the last few minutes before an Olympic final like? How much does the mind swirl with doubt, and hope?
We focus so much on our track coaching that we forget that we need a mental coach to bring out the best in us when we are on the track in a big final. Towards the end of my career, I started working with a sports psychologist and he told me a lot of techniques that helped me stay in the moment. He told me to take deep breaths and taught me how to deal with negative chatter. At London 2012, I told myself that this is my race and I am ready. I was walking around the village as if I have already won the race. But my sports psychologist told me when I was going on to the track that something's going to happen that's going to knock me off my blocks. After they announced my name, I was in Lane 5. Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu was in Lane 7. It was London, her hometown and I have never heard a crowd louder. It rattled me. I remembered what my sports psychologist told me. I thought I can't let this girl beat me again. And then I ran into my fairytale.
Four years previously, you were very vocal about what happened before the Beijing Olympics…
In 2008, I had a horrific experience where I found out I was pregnant right before I went to Beijing and literally had an abortion the day before I got on the plane. It was the toughest time of my life. It was far tougher than losing the race. As a Christian woman, I never thought I would do that. I never thought I would choose myself and personal goals over having a baby. I wasn't married yet. There was the shame of that.
But I didn't know how deeply it would hurt. So, I didn't feel like I was trying to outrun some other woman in Beijing, it felt like I was trying to outrun this shame, hurt and disappointment. I don't speak about it because I don't want to take anything away from Christine because she ran a great race. But I kind of self-sabotaged my race. The experience in Beijing changed my perspective as how much God loves us.
I was in a bus headed to be with my mother. I realised I was on the wrong bus. I got off and was bawling so hard that I couldn't see anything. At that time I literally felt the loving arms of God wrapped around me and telling me he had forgiven me. No one can tell me God's not for real after what I experienced.
Excerpts from a freewheeling chat...
How's India been treating you so far?
It's only my second day, but it's been tremendous so far. I've heard the Airtel Delhi Half-Marathon has done quite a bit to promote running in general. That the culture has changed and people have embraced running. I've loved to run ever since I was a little girl. It always brings me a lot of joy when people fall in love with running. I'm really looking forward to witnessing the energy on Sunday.
You spoke about a running culture. The US has a very robust running culture in high school. You were even the National High School Female Athlete of the Year once. We are struggling to replicate that culture in our schools…
I always say I got the best of both worlds because I was born in Kingston, Jamaica where track and field is the most popular sport and as I've been here the last couple of days here, I've realised the reason I was able to be successful is because of the infrastructure that exists. The people love the sport, the fans love the sport and the country supports the sport.
My coach, when I was 7, 8 years old, was the one who actually coached the national team. So imagine someone who has that expertise coaching you when you are so young. I think it starts with the country buying in and falling in love with the sport. You have to understand the importance of implementing it in high schools, prep schools and elementary schools.
Hima Das won the silver in 400m at the Asian Games (She bettered the National mark with 50.79s with the run). It just takes someone like that to go out there and experience it because she's only going to keep getting better. The first time you go, it's nerve-racking. Then you have that experience so you keep getting better. She becomes a role model and the younger girls want to emulate her and get better than her.
It's about investing in high and elementary schools so kids can start early. I started when I was seven and if you look at many of the athletes who have progressed in the sport, they start young, fall in love with it and understand what it takes - the determination and hard work.
What do you make of young athletes getting too much early stardom and sponsorships? There always seems a sponsor-PR mechanism waiting to feed off their early achievement. For instance, we worry about the celebrity status currently accorded to Hima Das, who is barely 18 and just begun her career…
I am not a big fan of young athletes getting tons of money and visibility. If they earn that money, it should go in to a deferred account which they can get at a later date. But to have access to that kind of money at such a young age, it takes away the hunger that you need to have to excel in sports. We see this all the time in America when athletes come out of high schools, get tons of money from sponsors and then they don't do well. You wait 2-3 years and you see there's a huge difference between a 15-yearold and an 18-year-old in terms of maturity. Makes you better prepared.
It's way too much pressure for an athlete to get too much money, too much stardom, too much fame. Because in sport, as you get older, it gets really, really hard to compete when you have a lot of pressure on you.
Also, is there too much money in sport? Should Olympians be paid?
Absolutely. At the end of the day, when you look around you see everyone who is participating in the Olympics is making tons of money. Everyone's making money - down to the photographers on the sidelines. I don't think it's fair for billions of dollars passing hands and the athletes who are putting on the show and have worked for four years don't get to reap the benefits of that.
Growing up, who were your role models?
My first role model was Merlene Ottey. She was Jamaican and I just loved everything about her. She was a huge hero in my country and I wanted to go see the Olympics after watching her success. When I moved to the US, the woman I really looked up to was Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The best part was that she started to play a very important role in my life - she would come to all my meets, talk to me or text me. Basically just communicate and encourage me. What I also loved about her was also the fact that she is also a huge philanthropist. She has done some amazing work in St Louis where she is from. I wanted to emulate that because what's more important than our success on the track is using our platform to help people. I think those are my two big role models. I got to meet Ottey years later but I really got to admire her from afar.
Why did you move to the US?
I actually made the decision when I was 16 when I was asked to join the US junior team. I had migrated to the US when I was 12. I had competed there for four years and the junior Olympics were coming up. I was invited to join the team and when they asked me for my passport it was the first time I realised that wasn't even an American citizen. So I asked my mom and dad and we sat down and weighed the pros and cons. It was tougher for my parents because they were in Jamaica for most of their lives. At the end of the day, they decided that running in the US was the best for me.
And it's a funny story. I went to the world juniors which was in Jamaica. Here I was this young budding star from Jamaica but running for the US. The fans were really cruel. They called me a traitor, they booed me. I had never experienced anything like that before. It affected my performance. I realised that it wasn't that they didn't like me. They loved me so much they wanted me to be a part of their team but they just didn't know how to express themselves. As the years went on they started to appreciate my performance even more even though I was running for US. I think my Fast Track programme put everything into perspective. I still think I made the right choice even though a difficult one.
How has the 400m evolved? There was a fantastic world record in Rio...
For so long the women have been stuck around that 50-second point and I was fortunate to run 48 seconds and be the first woman to do that for a long time. Now we have Shaunae Miller-Uibo who has done it again so I think we are making a breakthrough.
On the men's side I have to tell you I was blown away when Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record was broken. I actually got to commentate that race. It was actually my first race I got to commentate on for NBC and it was a World Record! I think I was the good luck charm. And Wayde van Niekerk ran in Lane 8 - totally unbelievable! I myself ran in Lane 7 when I got the best American time. It demolishes a lot of myths about the middle tracks being the better ones; you tend to get bothered about the other runners' race too. If athletes are prepared and focus on their race, maybe they feel more free running in the outer lane.
I think in the 400m there's like an ebb and flow. I don't think we're going to see someone run 42-secs just because we saw someone run a 43. Van Niekerk can run a sub-43. We'll see what he runs in 2020.
Speaking of records, what do you think of the current women's record of 47.60 by Marita Koch...
It's unfortunate that the record still stands because I think it's a tainted record. It's not even speculation. It's frustrated me my entire career. If you look at the progression of women's 400m it just doesn't make sense. All of a sudden it goes from 50 seconds to 47.6. That just doesn't happen. I do think that it's unfortunate that the records exists and I think it's unfair. It's discouraging because I don't think any woman is going to get close to that. I don't think it should be a record in the first place.
Wayde van Niekerk was trained by Ans Botha, a 74-year-old grandmother. Most Jamaican athletes too are trained by older coaches. Is the approach more modern in the US?
I also had an old school coach - Clyde Hart. He's probably 82 or 83 now. He coached Michael Johnson to the World Record and Olympic medals. I think there's something to these old school coaches because they have so much experience.
A lot of people don't believe it, but we don't ever train in spikes. We're running in flats and sneaker all along and sometimes the first time you're putting on spikes is at your first race. It worked for us so. I think older coaches have confidence. Athletes trust an older coach when he changes their training methods. I enjoyed training with an old coach. But inevitably, there will come a change and I think new coaches bring a new dynamic to the table.
Masking agents will always be a step ahead of WADA. What's your take?
When I was running, I always tried not to think about it because if you get caught up in it you get so distracted and discouraged. Now that I've stepped away from it, I hear a lot more about it. I was overwhelmed by all the information I was receiving. Unfortunately, WADA can't be ahead of the masking agents out there. If people are making new drugs, it takes a while for WADA to catch up quite naturally. In theory, WADA will always be a step behind. It's tough for WADA because they're always trying to play catch-up with these geniuses out there who try to beat the system.
We just had the 50th anniversary of the Black Glove salute by John Carlos, Tommie Smith at the 1968 Olympics. For the first time in decades perhaps, athletes, particularly black ones, are again making statements…
It's ridiculous when people say athletes should just be athletes because there's no way to separate your humanity because you're an athlete. I commend sportsperson who have spoken for the people who don't have a voice. I really admire athletes who are using the platform to take a stand.
I feel like there's a positive shift where people can speak out. I think if those things start to happen then inevitably positive change comes. I feel very optimistic about our future.
US Gymnastics is going through one of their own #MeToo movements. Does track and field have one too?
I haven't heard any rumblings in track and field, nor have I ever had any personal experience or heard about a coach like that. My hope is that there won't be any stories coming out of my sport. I think, in gymnastics they're a lot younger and are always with their coach. There's a lot of difference with how we are trained, and the periods of interaction etc.
What is your take on Serena's famous outburst at the US Open final recently?
I love Serena as a player. Initially, I wasn't offended by her outburst. When you are in the moment and competing, your emotions are running high. People said that Serena is a veteran and she should be able to manage her emotions. That's very difficult to do when you want something very badly.
As a black woman, it's hard to express our experience in the world. Serena is participating in a predominantly white sport where tons of things are happening to her all the time and she's always taking them on the chin. For her, it might have been a boiling point. After the match, she tried to make herself as small as possible so that the young woman could have her moment. I don't think it was her proudest moment. Given the opportunity, she might have done things differently. I think the point where she was labelled a cheater is what set her off.
We've heard and read a lot about Tiger Woods and his strange journey over the past decade. But it's always intrigued us how a black person and a black sportsperson would view it…
It's strange (but) I don't feel a major connection with Tiger Woods. People say that Tiger Woods doesn't identify himself as a black man. From the group of voices that I hear, he feels he is a mixture of a lot of things. If I we were to talk about him as a black man, what he has done for the sport is huge. But when things started happening to him, he was treated like a black man (Laughs). I am happy to see him rebound.
How big really is Usain Bolt for you guys?
If I was forced to choose the greatest of all time, without any disrespect to Jesse Owens and Michael Johnson, he is the greatest. He is a freak of nature because traditionally 100 metres male sprinters are more compact, they explode off the block and have top-end speed. Someone like Usain Bolt who is so lanky and tall, never had the best start to run 9.5 sec. It just defies logic. On top of that, we need to respect the mental poise he has and the toughness to come back to three Olympics and win the event that every single man on the planet competes in. Every athlete wants to be the fastest man…
Do you grudge 100m stars who take away all the limelight?
I won't say I grudge them because I could carve out a lane for myself. If you look at American stars while I was competing - the sprint landscape - I felt I was up there with Allyson Felix and whoever the 100m star was. I felt very fortunate, during my career people enjoyed watching 400m. I was fortunate to run at the right time, against the right athletes.
Where do you stand with Caster Semenya and the hyperandrogenism debate?
The thing that makes Caster's case so difficult is being able to separate her from the situation. That's why most people don't want to speak about it. She didn't do anything wrong. She was just born, loves to run and loves the sport. When you look at females running in the sport, you know that higher level of testosterone makes you better and faster. I am not a doctor and I don't know all the details, but from what you can see and what's being said, you can say that she has an advantage. The IAAF has a tough challenge in rectifying that. I was an advocate when they were telling her to take estrogen so that she was closer to where the women are. Then they ended up revoking that. My heart breaks for the girls in the field who don't have the same level of testosterone as Caster.
How do top athletes manage the end of their careers? How tough was your transition?
I think I made a pretty good transition, to be very honest. But the transition is always known to be very hard. I had seen so many of my peers really struggle with that. I think a year before I officially retired, I started to prepare myself mentally, spiritually and physically. My husband (NFL star Aaron Ross) retired two years before me so I got to see that transition. It helped me go through mine.. I was very prayerful and very reflective. I also started writing my book (Chasing Grace: What The Quarter Mile Has Taught Me About God and Life) which also helped me to be introspective and grateful. I think that sometimes you walk away from the sport and you have all this regret about how things could've gone. I totally wish 2016 would've been that dream season, but I won the Olympics in 2012 and I broke the American record. Yeah, I did struggle to watch track and field for about six months after that.
There is an onus on athletes to make their sport attractive on TV. You were known for putting an emphasis on your looks during races…
I started taking an interest in my appearance on the track, when someone who told me 'Hey, this is your job. You can't show up at work like that. You need to look presentable.' It started to resonate with me when there was a study done that most young girls fall out of sports between the age of 11 and 14 mostly because they start to explore their femininity and doing sports could alter their body, maybe make them look more tomboy-ish because they feel more 'girly'. For me, it was important for young girls to see other 'girly' girls who are fine with putting on a mascara and looking pretty on the track. It does enhance your self-esteem a little bit. I remember sitting in my room before the 2012 Olympics final, I was putting my make up on and I felt like I was putting on my uniform. It was like my war face.
What are the last few minutes before an Olympic final like? How much does the mind swirl with doubt, and hope?
We focus so much on our track coaching that we forget that we need a mental coach to bring out the best in us when we are on the track in a big final. Towards the end of my career, I started working with a sports psychologist and he told me a lot of techniques that helped me stay in the moment. He told me to take deep breaths and taught me how to deal with negative chatter. At London 2012, I told myself that this is my race and I am ready. I was walking around the village as if I have already won the race. But my sports psychologist told me when I was going on to the track that something's going to happen that's going to knock me off my blocks. After they announced my name, I was in Lane 5. Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu was in Lane 7. It was London, her hometown and I have never heard a crowd louder. It rattled me. I remembered what my sports psychologist told me. I thought I can't let this girl beat me again. And then I ran into my fairytale.
Four years previously, you were very vocal about what happened before the Beijing Olympics…
In 2008, I had a horrific experience where I found out I was pregnant right before I went to Beijing and literally had an abortion the day before I got on the plane. It was the toughest time of my life. It was far tougher than losing the race. As a Christian woman, I never thought I would do that. I never thought I would choose myself and personal goals over having a baby. I wasn't married yet. There was the shame of that.
But I didn't know how deeply it would hurt. So, I didn't feel like I was trying to outrun some other woman in Beijing, it felt like I was trying to outrun this shame, hurt and disappointment. I don't speak about it because I don't want to take anything away from Christine because she ran a great race. But I kind of self-sabotaged my race. The experience in Beijing changed my perspective as how much God loves us.
I was in a bus headed to be with my mother. I realised I was on the wrong bus. I got off and was bawling so hard that I couldn't see anything. At that time I literally felt the loving arms of God wrapped around me and telling me he had forgiven me. No one can tell me God's not for real after what I experienced.
Source : timesofindia[dot]indiatimes[dot]com
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