Sanya Richards teleconference excerpts
07-14-2005
Contact:
Jill Geer
Director of Communications
USA Track & Field
317-261-0478 x360
Two-time U.S. 400m champion and 2005 Visa Champion Sanya Richards on Thursday spoke to the media via USATF teleconference. The 2005 world leader with her time of 49.28, Richards is coming off of wins last week over Olympic gold medalist Tonique Williams-Darling, in Lausanne, and world champion Ana Guevara, in Rome, which earned her USATF Athlete of the Week honors. Richards next will compete July 22 at the London Super Grand Prix, before running at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, August 6-14 in Helsinki, Finland. For a full bio of Richards, visit the Athlete Bios section of www.usatf.org
Below are excerpts from Thursday’s teleconference. An audio replay is also available.
Q: Tell us about your season so far, and how you feel as the World Championships approach.
A: I think my season has been off to a wonderful start. I’m trying to stay focused and stay humble. The World Championships have been my main focus. Everything right now has been proving that everything is on track.
Q: Do you ever worry about running too fast, too soon?
A: Sometimes I do. I remember last year when I ran 50.4 really early, I wondered if that was too fast. I now know that there is no fast, too early. You give your best each time, and hopefully you keep getting faster throughout the season.
Q: How did you make the decision to start working with coach Clyde Hart [former Baylor head coach; coach of Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson].
A: The decision was a tough one for me. Bev [Kearney, University of Texas head coach] and I got along well, and we had a great relationship. I wanted to be the best quarter miler in the world, and at the Olympics, being with Jeremy and Clyde, I felt if I wanted to be the best quarter miler it was time for me to make the change. I met with Coach Hart and he agreed, and it has worked out really great.
Q: When did you start working with Clyde?
A: It wasn’t almost until the fall season was over that I thought I needed to look into making a change. I started working with Coach Hart in November.
Q: What is so different about Coach Hart?
A: The difference is that he believes in strength training. I probably got in the blocks twice this year, as opposed to twice a week last year. All my training is geared toward the quarter. My training has been a lot more focused on just one event as opposed to being overall a good sprinter.
Q: Some people have said that not everybody can handle Coach Hart’s workouts.
A: Yes, they are tough. I think being in the UT program for 2 years, Bev’s workouts are very tough, especially mentally. So I had a good background coming into Coach Hart’s workouts. When I run a workout, I want to destroy it and do it better than he’s ever had anybody do it.
Q: Do you live in Austin or Waco?
A: I’m living in both. I go back and forth a lot of the time. It’s about an hour and 20, hour and 30 minutes between them. I bought a condo in Austin and now I have a place in Waco, too, since the hotel charges were getting a little high. I’ll go to UT in the fall, full-time.
Q: You came close to Tonique Darling at the Nike Prefontaine Classic. Was that a confidence-builder to get that close to the Olympic gold medalist, and in Lausanne, were you convinced she was vulnerable?
A: When I got back home after Pre, I was disappointed because I didn’t execute as well as I wanted to. When I got back, I realized if I had done some things differently, I would have won. I realized that if I executed, I could win. It’s not about who you’re running against if you execute like you are supposed to. So when I got to Lausanne, I executed well. I usually run the first 100 well, but then back off and lose my advantage. In Lausanne I made sure to keep my pace up on the backstretch, running 12.0 or 11.9 for the second 100. Then I passed her on the turn.
Q: How exciting is it to beat both the Olympic and world champions?
A: I was really excited. In Lausanne and Rome, my family wasn’t there, so I had all this joy just by myself. I’m trying to hold my excitement in, waiting until the world championships.
Q: What do you think has happened to 400m, where all of a sudden it’s a huge strength, for both men and women, in the United States?
A: I think with me, Monique Henderson and Dee Dee Trotter … What happens is, I win one year, then Dee Dee and Monique win another year. It’s a trickle effect where you know if you’re not running 49, you’re not going to make the team. When people believe they can run faster, times just get faster and faster.
Q: How often are you on track with Darold [Williamson] and Jeremy [Wariner]?
A: Every day. Our workouts are exactly the same. Our times are different. I’m the one that benefits most, because they are faster. Sometimes I’ll try to keep up with them. It’s amazing for me. If I can do it [workouts, training and execution] the way Coach Hart wants me to do it, I know I can be the best in the world, too. It’s easy to stay focused and to work hard.
Q: Coach Hart said, among all of his athletes, you executed best race at nationals.
A: I thought it was a huge compliment. The whole year prior to national championships, I kept messing up the start, and he kept saying, ‘Let’s keep trying. If you can do this, you’ll get a big drop in time.’ Going into nationals, I thought, let’s get it right this time. If I lose, I lose.
Q: Talk about the youth movement in USATF right now.
A: I think it’s a turning point where a lot of the greats were getting older and retiring. We all, at a younger age, got a taste of international competition. I was at the World Championship [in 2003] when I was 18, running anchor on the relay. It gave us all extra motivation to be the next Gail Devers or all those elite athletes I used to admire.
Q: You did well in the 200 for a couple of years, but at what point did you decide the 400 was the one you should go into?
A: In high school, my coach told me I was going up [to the 400] to become a better sprinter. I liked the event, my times were dropping every year. I eventually hope to run more 200s again.
Q: How do you like the lifestyle of a professional athlete?
A: I enjoy being a professional. I knew if I could focus just on track & field, I could do really well. It has helped me to become an elite athlete.
Q: Have you splurged on anything?
A: I did get a condo in Austin. And I got a car, a Mercedes C230 compressor, in granite gray.
Q: How well do you think the U.S. will do, overall, in Helsinki?
A: Extremely well. After having one of the highest medal counts at the Olympic Games, and having most of those people back this year … there are people who didn’t medal in Athens who we will medal this year. I think we will do even better this year.
Q: At nationals, all of the top 3 women in the 400 were under 50 seconds. Do you suppose that either world or American records in the 4x400m relay are vulnerable?
A: Definitely. As soon as I got off the track after the 400, Dee Dee [Trotter] looked at me and said, ‘that world record’s in trouble.’ I think we can do it as a team. It will be hard - one of us will have to run 47.
Q: What was your reaction to your performance at Athens [sixth place]?
A: Disappointment, because I knew I was better than that. I really wanted a medal, that was what I had always dreamed of. I think it only made me stronger. This year it has motivated me. I want a world championships medal so bad, and I think I can get one.
Q: Do you ever step back and look at how young you are, and think about how long you will be in the sport?
A: I think about it all the time - me, Lauryn Williams and Bershawn Jackson are all friends, and we talk about it. I’m kind of getting close to Michael Johnson because I am down here, and he was running when he was 32. I am hoping I can stay around for 12 years, too.
Q: Is the American record in trouble?
A: I truly believe I can break that record. Under perfect circumstances, maybe this year. But next year I should definitely be able to break it.
Q: Is your dad still a big part of your training?
A: My dad is a huge part of everything. When I started training with Coach Hart, I was going back and forth a lot, between Austin and Waco. As soon as I got a place down here [in Waco], he came out to help me get settled. He still comes back all the time and gives me motivation. I owe a lot of my success to him.
Q: Was he the first person you called after Lausanne?
A: You bet. My parents will be in Helsinki, and my mom will be in London.
Q: You ran your personal best in the final at the USA Outdoor Championships, after running rounds. Does the strength-based training you do now give you an edge in rounds?
A: I think it gives us an advantage. Jeremy and I were talking about this after Lausanne. I think we get stronger after every round. Coach Hart always gives you something to work on after every round, and your body gets looser and freer. I think the rounds in Helsinki will help me instead of hurt me.
Q: What will you be happy with in Helsinki?
A: The win.
Q: How much has it helped to have as much international experience as you do?
A: It helps a whole lot. I’m glad this isn’t my first year. Every year I learn something new about my body - what helps me, what hurts, how to get sleep.
Q: You mention your body - it looks like you’re in great shape, and even trimmer than usual.
A: My strength coach and I have had our best year of training. I’ve been doing things a little bit different in the weight room. I’m running at about 136 [pounds], which was my high school weight, actually. My freshman year [at Texas], I was about 140, and last year about 138. So this is ideal for me.
Q: In 2002, the U.S. produced a lot of young athletes who are now the best.
A: On that World Junior team, we had Lashinda Demus, Lauryn Williams, Allyson Felix, Bershawn Jackson, Monique Henderson, Kenneth Ferguson. We had athletes who wanted to take over and do it.
Q: It seems that you and other young athletes welcome the ‘burden’ of carrying the sport. Why?
A: We watched other athletes, and I’ve admired them and how they were able to carry the sport. I am definitely willing to do that. I’ve been running well the majority of my life; I’m anxious and excited to be able to do that.
Q: It seems that all you young athletes are really happy and really enjoying it - you’re not grim about the sport. Some of the rivalries in the past, it wasn’t like that. Do you sense an overall higher level of enjoyment among top runners?
A: I think there’s a mutual respect, and I understand sport better - people are out there trying to run fast, make money and have fun. I think there is a greater respect for everybody, across the board. That’s what makes everybody more open.