Aware that she is no more the reigning queen of the 400m event, Sanya Richards is itching to unleash herself in the Weltklasse meeting in Zurich and reclaim the crown, which now belongs to Christine Ohuruogu of Britain.
It was a shocker as Richards, the Athens Olympic gold medalist and IAAF 2006 Female World Athlete of the Year, failed to qualify from the trials for the US 400m team in the world championship at Osaka, Japan, where Ohuruogu won the title.
Richards, however, is determined to succeed in search of his lost glory and she needs to win to stay in the hunt for the $1m purse, which would go to winners of all six Golden League meets.
Ohuruogu, on the other hand, is keen to win for other reason. The British athlete with Nigerian heritage served a one-year ban for skipping three dope tests and though she won the title in Osaka, she knows people still see her with suspicion.
Ohuruogu has accepted the fact that she can’t escape from it and said
I’m going to have to deal with it if I want to run. I think I’m beginning to realise that nobody is ever going to draw a line - people will hang on to what they believe no matter what. I’ll do my best to change that, but I don’t think it’s ever going to fully work. I’m very happy to be here though, and I’m going to go out there and enjoy it because I’ve only watched this on TV.
Ohuruogu badly needs a win because a victory here would help her convince the British Olympic Association to lift the ban on her from all future Games.
