SANYA RICHARDS-ROSS CALLS TIME ON HER CAREER

Photo: Reigning Olympic Women’s 400m Champion and former World Champion Sanya Richards-Ross

Reigning Olympic Women’s 400m Champion and former World Champion, Sanya Richards-Ross will be making the 2016 track and field season her last. The 31 year old Jamaica born, American 400m specialist announced her intention to retire on Instagram on Monday.

Richards-Ross revealed that the Rio Olympic Games will her last in the colours bearing the Star-Spangled Banner, of United States of America.

“After over a decade of indescribable successes and challenges, the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will mark the end of my 12th and final professional season,” she wrote in her post.

She also spoke about her challenges with surgeries over her the last three years and her road to recovery.

“After my third foot surgery last November, I worked tirelessly to recoup and recover. I put my blood, sweat and tears into the career of my dreams and experienced profound growth and immeasurable rewards along the way. I am so excited to celebrate with one last lap around the world and I hope you will follow along.”

Richards Ross is also the American national record holder over the 400m with a personal best of 48.70 seconds done in 2006. She will attempt to make her fourth Olympic team at the U.S. Olympic Trials this July.

She won the gold medal in the 400m in the 2012 Olympics and was the top 400m runner in the world in that event from 2005-2009, winning her first global gold medal at the World Championships in 2009 in Berlin.

After making her debut on the 4x400m relay team in 2003 with a gold medal, she has helped that relay team win gold medals in each of the last two Olympics.

Richards-Ross will officially kick her Road to Rio campaign, with her season opener at this weekend’s Penn Relays, where she will be a part of the 4×400-meter relay team.

She will also be part of one of the greatest 400m showdown against the likes of country woman Alyson Felix, Francena McCorory, Natasha Hastings, Bahamanian Shanae Miller and Jamaican Stephanie McPherson at the 2016 Prefontaine Classic, organizers announced on Monday.