KK sorry about that but she is already TAKEN nik cannot have her.
I was seriously thinking of her, but… :rolleyes:
Sunday 10 September 2006
Stuttgart, Germany - Funny how strange the timespan of athletics can be. On Monday 6 August 1984, Valerie Brisco-Hooks soared around the track at the Coliseum in Los Angeles to win Olympic 400m gold in 48.83 in an American record and Sanya Richards was not even born.
A little more than six months later she entered the world in Kingston, Jamaica and today, she is determined to replace Brisco-Hooks at the top of the USA list, a mark has lasted more than a generation but which threatens to disappear every time the event is run.
Take today here in Stuttgart.
Richards is one of the women athletes of the season and a week after winning a share of the $1 Million dollar Jackpot at the IAAF Golden League with her unstoppable run of victories in Berlin, she triumphed again at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion with an performance that was as individually impressive as anything seen during this weekend of the IAAF World Athletics Final.
It took so much out of her that she had to slip down onto her haunches to conduct interviews and then apologise because she could not talk for long, as her body told her to calm down after another sinew-straining display - She had finished second in yesterday’s 200m in a personal best of 22.17.
Brisco-Hooks’ mark lives for another day, though for part of this thrilling example of one-lap running, it was again hanging by a thin thread. But gone is the IAAF World Athletics Final.
Richards, who is not 22 until February, won in 49.25.
Yet the ambition and the drive is so immense that she is relishing every aspect of being the target for others to follow - even though they always seem to be chasing a lost cause.
Richards, who moved to the USA when she was 12 and became an American citizen in 2002, is used to being favourite and would not want it any other way.
“When I was young it happened and I like it,” she said. “If you are the favourite, you do not have to worry about things as much. If you are not, you have to be concerned with having to catch the favourite and I thrive on this sort of pressure."
“I am so determined for next year’s World Championships in Osaka, it is the big goal for me.”
In Helsinki last summer, at the 10th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Richards finished second to Tonique Williams-Darling, of the Bahamas, whose star has waned this year as injury has played its part.
As she has failed to build on her glory in Finland - she did not even win the Commonwealth Games title in Melbourne in March - Richards has been prolific, with her 400m victories starting back in the winter on the boards of Boston before she won the US National titles both indoors and outdoors.
And she is wise enough to know the key to improving upon her personal best of 48.92 to make that US record shake a bit more.
“I need to stay more relaxed,” she said. “I tense up a great deal when I run faster. After the World Cup next week, I might just end my season because I do not want to take anything away from my chances at the World Championships.”
One summer is almost over and her mind is already focussed on the next.
What is noticeable is that when she runs it looks as though she is doing so with so little effort, though the way she felt afterwards proves just how much takes out of herself.
Her ability - she has won 11 times over 400m this summer - is something she knows her rivals will be looking into as Osaka draws nearer.
“As others now know how I run, they will try to match that,” she added. “Osaka will be tough.”
But perhaps not as tough for those likely to be trailing in her wake.
Richard Lewis for the IAAF
Plenty like this down Leeds
Really? Damn! I must have missed it somehow… 
my sweet god in heaven
You see guys, you don’t have to have a six pack to have good abdominal control.
KitKat why the long face. 
This thread is getting more and more interesting! 
Coz they told me I’d look prettier in pink. :mad: :rolleyes:
Waiting for the season to end…
My special thanks to KitKat for starting this! 
EDIT: and to Struski, of course, for providing the photo!
I’m dissapointed Nik, I thought you would have opted for mine.
What makes you think I am not in myself???
Grasp this chance though and… crash that little fella in your avatar!
Your right, its not the best is it. I wanted a pic of a Mercedes Maclaren but it was too many pixels.
I think I can fix it for you. PM me your e-mail!
Congradulations on your new avatar! I kept up with this rediculous thread and I am relieved to see a changed picture there next to your name dude
Hey, take this back!
Nik, your a good un, thanks to you i finally have a picture of my car as my avatar. :rolleyes: