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Sanya Richards: Emotion Commotion
Three-time Olympic gold medalist,world championships silver medalist,three-time U.S. national champion
(University of Texas, information systems management degree, 2006) www.sanyarichards.net
We were best friends and teammates. She was someone I was very close with, and the summer after junior year I told her all about how I liked this guy. I’d tell her about everything. When we came back to school, I found out they were dating.
It was devastating. I felt like we were really good friends, you know? I’d stay over at her house, and she’d come over to my house all the time. It was a really hard time for me, because it was like when it happened, she took a group of my friends. There had been like five of us girl friends, and all of a sudden in school there were girls who didn’t talk to me or guys who didn’t like me any more. People were spreading rumors about me. I remember I’d cry all the time, and my younger sister was like,“It’s okay. It’s not the end of the world.” I’d talk to her a lot. She tried to keep me positive, and she was someone who had my best interests at heart. I even talked to my parents a lot.
To deal with things, I just worked hard on the track and became even more focused on my school work and that stuff. When I was feeling the saddest, I found myself really enjoying the things I was good at. I was coming off an injury and a so-so track season my junior year, but that senior season I decided I wasn’t going to worry about boys or trying to be everyone’s friend, but instead focus on me.
I would do all the ab workouts, I was eating right, and I started beating everybody by a mile! As soon as I did that, I saw the benefits, and it was very rewarding. I was just so motivated to focus on myself and being the best I could be. I had an amazing season, I broke all these records, and I got the best grades in school I’d ever had. I ended up getting a scholarship to a great university and even hoped I might one day go to the Olympic Games. It just made me so happy.
Even now, dealing with my feelings is definitely still a challenge because, hey, emotions are tough to deal with. During tough times, I try to be around my parents and friends. You have to find the people who are good for your heart.
Whenever I feel down, I go for a run because it really clears my mind and encourages me. I learned it helps to focus on what you’re good at, or what you like to do, and put your heart into it. The more you see something about yourself grow, the more rewarding it is, and it makes you happy inside.
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