Sanya Richards-Ross reveals abortion before Beijing Olympics
Sanya Richards-Ross revealed she had an abortion the day before she flew to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics in her book, “Chasing Grace,” released Tuesday.
“It seemed like I had no choice at all,” wrote Richards-Ross, the 2008 Olympic 400m bronze medalist and 2012 Olympic 400m champion. “The debate of when life begins swirled through my head, and the veil of a child out of wedlock at the prime of my career seemed unbearable. What would my sponsors, my family, my church, and my fans think of me?”
Richards-Ross also wrote, “most of the women I knew in my sport have had at least one abortion.” She added to Sports Illustrated during her media tour Tuesday, “I literally don’t know another female track athlete who hasn’t had an abortion.”
Richards-Ross, now retired, was engaged to then-NFL cornerback Aaron Ross at the time of her abortion in 2008. She told Ross over the phone that she was pregnant before the decision to have an abortion.
“I made a decision that broke me, and one from which I would not immediately heal,” Richards-Ross wrote. “Abortion would now forever be a part of my life. A scarlet letter I never thought I’d wear.”
They later were married and are now expecting a child. She is an NBC Sports track and field analyst after retiring following failing to make the Rio Olympic team.
Richards-Ross was the 400m favorite going into Beijing. She wrote that a doctor recommended she have “no activity” for two weeks following the abortion. That was an order she could not follow. She didn’t tell her coaches or her father.
“Winning was the only medicine I thought I needed,” she wrote.
In the 2008 Olympic 400m final, Richards-Ross led by more than five meters entering the last 100m straightaway.
But Richards-Ross was passed by Brit Christine Ohuruogu and Jamaican Shericka Williams. Richards-Ross tearfully took bronze, saying a hamstring injury slowed her at the 300m mark.
“I literally prayed about that [revealing the abortion] for almost two years because it is something that is really private, and a lot of women don’t talk about it,” Richards-Ross said on a podcast. “When I found out I was pregnant before the Olympics, it was the toughest time of my life. … It wasn’t an easy story to share. Even, I think about, oh my god, I wonder how people are going to receive it. But, ultimately, I did it to glorify God and to tell people that you can come back from any decision, no matter how hard it is to make.”
it wouldnt be her first, im not a fan of hers always think she extra & nuff
:hammer Forgive me father mi nah generalize but a di truth. Her move was a Yankee one, fi jus do abortion di day before and den gone olympics _________________________ . That part cudda leave out because God a di author and finisher of all our lives so dat cudda lef out and not mention. And back to wha u seh agen. It cudden be har first nope….Den she a go seh all female athletes do it ..Christianity a get velly different these days :travel
She on Twitter ah preach and a look sympathy….I maintain that is a secret she shoulda carry to the grave!
If she claim she gave it over to God , the world neva haffi know fi real
@Met thats why when ppl see them pon tv or pon internet dem mus’nt grudge dem or want their life cause this sellout POS gal chose a stinking medal over caring her child, i know ppl who have done abortion for reasons including acceptance to university cause di tuition pay already & because dem man say dem neva want di pickney but sanya only saying this for her book to get attention & she mek money, nothing else plus i dont believer her, no matter the stage of pregnancy, u ago bleed heavily & in pain especially the first 3-4days after doing it. As i said above i dont/neva like this wana be yankee gal she always think she is the greatest athlete ever when she was only a washed up bitch.
Some a dem mek outa iron eno :nohope and she look like one iron bird :shutup:
Same so…chocolate
Dash whey belly gal Sanya Richardson-Ross! Is the graveyard that slowed you down and not the “hamstring injury”. 😀 😀
You wretches love involve god in unu oooops decision makings. God no see you on yu belly feast. YOU DAMN WELL AND KNOW IS OLYMPICS TIME…MEK YOU NEVER TEK PRECAUTIONS?
You bitches tek abortion table fi contraceptives 😉
Sell out and a nhame belly at that 😀 😀 GOD bless you with a skill and you busy a nhame babies…
I have never had an abortion. Thank God. But I was told by others, that writing about it, or even talking about it are ways that helps them to heal, and get through the grieving process. This kind of grief is called disenfranchised grief.
Sometimes it’s best not to say anything.
Her body her choice ! I had one and it was probably the best descion I’ve ever made
Her body her choice, but look at the choice she made it for compare to yours.
Abortions are for: health issues and to stave off future hardship on that fetus.
It’s not for women to use like this one here…selfish reasons then including GOD in her killing spree.
YardieT she is shady pon the god part di true, bro.
Thank you
When she even put bout other female athletes di devil like company. She would not have carried a baby if she did qualify fi olympics last year. Is because she see now seh di career done she carry one.They are too selfish
Trick plz. 2008 is not 1958 no one wuda care if you were pregnant,u were an athlete in a long term realtionship,not a Catholic school teacher wid a morality clause. U sacrificed ur bby for a bronze medal,bitch. U were selfish and didn’t want a bby in the prime of ur career to slow u down. Gweh. It wud a be a betta story if u brought the bby like how everybody praised Serena Williams for winning a championship while pregnant. Dis mek u look selfish and like a sellout bout everybody inna track dweet.
In my capacity as Grammar police. .I totally get why dem a drag her pon social media the world over.
If u read carefully there’s only one way to interpret her statement even though some will say dem know what she did a try fi sey!
Sanya said she had a abortion to glorify God!!Read it again! !Christians dem a cuss her like wow!
She didn’t say she did the abortion to Glorify God. The glory comes from revealing that she had one.
“It wasn’t an easy story to share.”……… ” I did it to glorify God and to tell people that you can come back from any decision, no matter how hard it is to make.”
Thanks PTS I stand corrected. However I fail to see how God play any form of role in an abortion decision or even to broadcast same. PP can I tell you that the worst feeling for an expectant willing father is to know that pregnant woman abort the baby “because it’s her body”…
Not for health reasons, not because u were raped but because it’s ur body. I have maximum respect for Faye Ellington who was raped but gave sound logical reasons for carrying the baby,she is a woman among woman n I admire her strength. .Sanya did her ish for a bronze..such vanity is unbecoming.
Wow, I’m lost for words. I wonder if each time she looks at that medal she remember the child she gave up for it
Morning Met and the family.
No wonder she was so bitter when we were winning all the medals at the olympic. She same one bring up bout we a work obeah to win the races. Till all mi white racist teacher mek a snide remarks towards me, then say she a tek it back cause she fraid me obeah her. I was so upset.
I feel her pain! But not sure why she sharing that story. But to each their own.
Which one a de pains? The fact she get brinze afta sacrificing the belly or the hamstring injury? Lolololol
A thats why she did hate di Jamaicans but a never dem tell her fi dash whey belly fi olympic medal
Mi nuh know if mi believe har or is publicity shi a look fi di book. Suh tell mi, if yu duh abortion yu nuh suppose to pain up an a bare blood. Suh how she did put on impy skimpy fi run inna an how shi neva bleed dung di place. Mi nuh know but mi nuh believe har.
She would have been better off running and pregnant because u supposed to tek a few weeks to heal. Which is why mi seh mi believe seh a nuh di first time she do it
See woman a do body building and pregnant, woman de a country a climb mountains wid load and pregnant. Crackheads get by by short miracles 😀
The running would have been good fi de young belly and is not like the olympics is a total of 8 hours.
If she strong enough to dine pon de belly and run de next day she could a run wid de “load”.
PP that is why di bwaay madda doe like har. She a di only one whey run wid di chanel earring for all to see and walk round wid di empty chanel bag :travel
Depends on how far along you are and the method used. If is a vacuum method less trauma if early, d&c more trauma at any stage. Memba these days even the pill can be used and do it at home yourself. If she was very early in the pregnancy there would be little to nothing going on, but if it later say, after three months then more would be going on. Sounds like she was quite early on, maybe three weeks in.
Obviously, she was extremely ambitious and would not let anything get in her way of her glory. I’m not quite sure why she sharing this, she got her medals, got married to the same man and now pregnant again, seems like she got everything she had set her heart on in the beginning, and I am 100% sure if she had to do it all over again she would have done the exact same thing.
I totally agree with u, all this is to sell a book. That’s the American way of making money, notice everytime Beyonce drop an album you hear all kind of news how Jay Z a cheat and how dem a lef and all kind a shit.
Serena Williams is the GOAT. Playing pregnant and winning! Mind you I know it’s two different sports, I’m just saying.
Betta she did go run di race wid di young belly, probably would have gotten the gold medal
Thank God she could still conceive after the abortion, some women cant after and spend their life regretting it
I don’t believe her, maybe she did one but not a day before the Olympics, I had one in my early 20’s (got preg even though I was on birth control) and it was the best decision at the time as I wasn’t ready. I cried about it for awhile so I don’t know how she could do it and then go to the Olympics the next day like nothing happened. I guess everyone’s mind is set up different.
Never like this girl, she dash whey the baby, thinking she could win gold for Amerikkka. My spirit never wrong. Who does that. Serena played during the French open and she was about 3 months pregnant. Mek she Gweh. Show off like, kmt
if a woman has an abortion ill give her a pass if a) if the pregnancy and subsequent birth risks the life of either child or mother…..i know someone who had to have one because she had xrays done with radiopaque dye a few weeks before she realized she was pregnant….doctor told her the baby could be born with one eye and tentacles if it came to that…..then there is the sad case of the woman who had to bring to term and live birth a baby who lived for only 30 mins….they discovered in utero the baby’s head and brain had not developed at all…….b)shes too young to have a child..aka still live a mumma yard and not even graduate high school yet ……c) a in addition to if she is of limited means and resources….d) she is too old and the risks are too great…e) the result of rape and/or incest…. i will not debate the religious aspect of abortion because that is a good vs evil battle with no end…..its a grey area, no definitive passage in the bible calls it a sin…….its the same as masturbation as far as im concerned….the question really is it a matter of convenience or is it a decision made because of the consequences of such a life changing event as having a child?…..i knew a girl who went on a temporary job assignment for 8 months….f**ked around and got pregnant….so she had an abortion ….told me she asked to see the fetus…and they showed it to her…..years later she married and had a couple kids…she basically did not want to have kids until she was done with school and really ready to be married and successfully raise her kids…….. i will say this….my belief is that until the fetus has a heart beat…..it is not viable….so if its that early…. before the 5th week…..it is a matter of choice and let the woman deal with her own conscience…it is not my place to judge…
Ultimately this hits a raw nerve on two fronts!firstly Sanya has opted to go all in on the Yankee mentality n culture. She has abandoned the best parts of her..her yardie heritage, her ppl n our culture..this entire episode is extremely Americanized n thus scripted.
Secondly I know what I am talking about! !Once this janitor chick had an abortion n told me 3yrs ltr.She said I was a rising star,asst supervisor, she didn’t want the scandal ruining my career omg!!This other girl aborted twin boys at 4months because she didn’t feel like I was going to marry her.2months later she married a dude she claimed she met on the bus..wanted to be wifey so bad smh.
I will tell Sanya di same thing I told those two exes..
Suck yuh mumma straight! !
Raw dog Sanya Richardson, den how yuh do abortion a day before yuh leave fi Olympics no sah. Some things just need to be kept between you and God alone. Mi spirit just neva can tek dis gal yah.
Speak di truth cost it what it will.. Nuff B do dem tings deh n go work next day. More while u affi mek life decisions n mi understand y she do it. Milike how she real 2 di ting n honest
She seems fake n mental, she had a series of her life on tv. She, har sister n mother live bad like. I love her sister she radical. Her husband is no big NFL player him freeLance no team nuh want him . She luddy
My concern is why she had to through other athletes in her revelation. I can’t stand people who do shit like that. We know she discuss this to sell her book but come on man, leave others out that shit.#shadyboots
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Sanya, it better yuh never say nutten. It is clear that you value others opinion of you than you think of yourself. You worried about what other people would think of you having a child out of wedlock than the guilt that you should feel. What other people think and say is not your sin…God nuh hold you accountable for that, is your sin yuh haffi ansa fa. What those people think of you now? One sin lead to another. Di moment yuh enter di relationship and start grine out a wedlock a sin. Di abortion a nuh di first sin. Why unu never married den when yuh find out, and still go Olympics? Di same people dem wha yuh a try impress would a respect yuh more, instead a regret seh dem did sorry fi yuh when yuh tell dem lie bout hamstring. That Montano girl trained all during her pregnancy and go run wid 7 or 8 month belly.
Yuh claim “I made a decision that broke me, and one from which I would not immediately heal”. So yuh heal? Why? Because yuh write a book, and throw shade at other athletes to justify what you did? Please. “I literally don’t know another female track athlete who hasn’t had an abortion.” So yuh mean to tell me that your team mates and all these other female athletes a walking graveyard? Yuh better mind lawsuit reach yuh. What kind a message is this sending to young ladies who want to pursue a track career? My daughter wants to do track and field, and if is abortion is mandatory, then best believe I am going to discourage her. Yuh couldnt jus bow out gracefully? Beg yuh stop talk and nuh write nuh more book. NBC better amend yuh contract put a clause seh yuh cyaa talk bout this and promote no book when yuh fi a gi coverage fi sports events.