A Lady And A Champion with Sanya Richards-Ross

Sanya Richards-Ross is a mom, wife, entrepreneur and an Olympic medalist, many times over. For 18 years, she has been the fastest woman in America. But this year in at the Olympic games in Paris, we'll be watching to see if that record will make it to 19! In this episode of A Day With Kay, Khadeen talks with the world class athlete about her rise to track stardom, her family life, and being the owner of the official pajama line of the 2024 Olympic Games. Dead Ass. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
With the Olympics right around the corner. I think it's
a huge flex for me to have the Olympian of
all Olympians sitting in my house, and she just so
happens to be an original.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
But y'all listen, this is such a thrill for me
to be here with you. And the Olympics are in
Paris in less than twenty Baby can wait, they're taking
ton U pole.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Baby Wait, here's me and she. Hey, I'm Kadan and
I'm and we're the Ellis's.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
You may know us from posting funny videos with our
voice and reading.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Each other publicly as a form of therpy. Wait. I'll
make you need derby most days. Wow. Oh, and one
more important thing to mention. We're married, Yes, sir, we are.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
We created this podcast to open dialogue about some of
Li's most taboo topics.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Things most folks don't want to talk about.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
The lens of lenieal married couple. Dead ass is a
term that we say every day. So when we say
dead ass, we're actually saying facts one hundred the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We about
to take Bilotov to our whole new level.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Dead ass starts right now, All right, story time. So girl,
I'm gonna tell you about the time when my track
career began and ended in the same day. Not the
same day, the same day, this the same day. And
I'm gonna tell you what people, you know what I'm saying.
So I was approaching a milestone birthday. I had our

(01:36):
first son, Jackson. Jackson was roughly about two years old,
and I was approaching thirty. So, you know, being married
to which you can relate to an NFL athlete, and
you know the way they train, and then of course
you being an Olympian, and I mean, you know what
it takes to really run. Okay, So I said to
my husband at the time. He had a mentorship program

(01:57):
back in Brooklyn and we trained athletes, over five athletes
in a variety of sports. So we had I mean football, baseball, basketball,
and then we had track and field. And as I
approached this thirtieth birthday, I said to de Value, you
know what, I want to get into the best shape
of my life. There's something about approaching milestone birthdays, at
least in my mind, that makes me feel like I

(02:17):
want to reflect on you know, what I've done, things
I haven't done what I want to do. And at
the time, I was rocking the short haircut and I'm like, listen, baby,
if my hair is going to be short, darling, I
have to be in shape. Okay. I can't be rocking
the short side shave with a big back. That's just
not an option. Okay, bias, no backpacks, none of those things.

(02:39):
And also too, like I just wanted to just be
healthy and I wanted to look good going into thirty
because it's something about the short haircut in the big
bag that gives Auntie vibes. And I wasn't ready for
Auntie yet. You know what I'm saying. I'm here, i
am forty, and I'm still not ready to be call
me big sis, call me because don't call me Auntie AnyWho.
So we're training with these athletes and shout out to
our friend Mayah, who was also trainer there also an

(03:00):
amazing athlete ran track as well. She was actually responsible
for training the girls that were training for track. So
Devale said, wellw about you just like go to a
couple of sessions and just train with them. You know,
I feel like you can lift with them and you
can do some like running drills, and whatnot. So I say,
you know what, that's cool. I'm up for the challenge.
Here we have fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year old girls, and

(03:21):
I'm like, I can keep up, you know what I mean,
because in my mind I'm going on thirty, but well
my body was going on thirty in my mind, I'm
like eighteen, and you know, give her take a year
or two. So I end up doing a weight training
session with them. And that's one thing I love to do,
weight training, So deadlift, squat me all day, I'm good. Right,
So after that I felt depleted. I'm like, man, my

(03:43):
legs are loaded, but they all, you know, doing a
little kick thing and the legs shaking and then loosening
up and they getting ready to go outside. Baby, is
there such a thing as a game of rabbit or
something of the story. Have you heard of that? Yes? Yes, yes,
I don't know who told the trainer to put me
as the rabbit? And baby, I was running for my life,

(04:06):
running for my life to the point where I literally
thought I was gonna die, like I couldn't breathe, and
these girls were just running and they're just standing there
normal and no one's having to catch their breath and
I thought I was in pretty decent shape at that point, baby,
but listening breathless, about to die, like eyes like welling

(04:31):
up with tears, and I look at Devo and I
look at my son, and I'm like, this is the last?
This is it for me? Like I was like, God
of always to go out, is this it? And it
really made me in that moment realize, like, girl, first
of all, you ate in the shape you thought you
were in. These girls are going to run circles around you.
Your body is thirty, it ain't eighteen. And the new

(04:54):
found appreciation and respect for athletes, particularly track, because baby, baby,
that's a different beast. I literally thought I was going
to die, like I could not catch my breath. I
wanted to cry at the same time as screen. And
I don't know if you've ever been there in your

(05:14):
training or if you were just born that way, if
you were a born athlete, because I thought I was, baby,
But I was humbled that day at track practice with
the girls, and that was my first and last the end,
all right, So listen, I was super excited about karaoke

(05:35):
time today just because I know that the extensive cat
extensive catalog of reggae that I'm sure you and I
can relate. So, who's your all time favorite? Like reggae artists,
do you have one person that she can say is
your favorite? Or we have to break into category like
dad fall versus lovers Rock right exactly? Okay?

Speaker 2 (05:58):
So I mean I think based on just legacy and
all that he's done for Jamaica, I have to put
Bob as number one, of course, but my like hardcore
number two is Bear's Hammond Hands.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Don't like nobody compare?

Speaker 4 (06:12):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
I mean when you talk about music that transcends time
and generation, because Barris for those of you who don't
know Baris is probably like our grandparents' generation. Would you say,
or mom and dad? Maybe in between?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Maybe in between mom and dad and dad? Yeah, I
feel like I feel like that's my dad's vibe. Mom, Yeah,
Mom and dad. Man.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
And let me tell you the way I can sing
a barage tone. You have a favorite I have?

Speaker 4 (06:37):
I could sing anyone if you call up when I
sing it with you?

Speaker 1 (06:40):
All right, right, so ready I'm gonna start it off. O.
Oh what a night, What a night? What a night?
O God, what a night? I feel good when you're
wrapped up in my arms dance in to a reggae song,
feel good good high five girl. Yes, Uncle Bris, Yes,

(07:07):
you know. I hope you made him before. I was
supposed to go one year and it was in New
York actually, but I had to be down here for
work and I missed it. God, I was literally going
to be backstage with him and I was so upset.
But I hear he's coming here, so yes, I think
he either came or he was here.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
I went to Barras's time the show one time, and
I was like, oh my god, this is everything.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Everything.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
My mom was there, all of our family was in.
It was just because I don't know about you. Growing up,
it was like when we would clean the house and stuff,
and you know, every Sunday it was the whole The whole.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Album was on.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
You know, the whole albums brings back such good, so.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
Many good vibes. My parents haveing basement parties or bashmans
as we call them, and as the party wind down
or wind up, it was Uncle Barrass. So shout out
to Barras having and shout out to you for knowing
all the lyrics. Of course, all right, y'all. Let's take
a break really quick, and then we're gonna come back
into the meat of the show. By now you're probably
figured out who I have with me, but if not,
I'm going to introduce her and we're going to get

(07:59):
into the thick of the discussion talking track and field,
Olympics and everything in between. Stick around, all right. So
I'm so excited. You guys have no idea And it's
so funny. As she came in, She's just like, I'm
such a fan of you, guys. I'm my girl. We're
a fan of you. Like my husband like literally came

(08:19):
out from like wherever he was because he had to
meet you. Sonya Richards Ross is a wife, mom, TV personality, author, entrepreneur,
and Olympic champion. Sonya's career competing for the US in
the woman's four hundred meter sprint is nothing short of amazing, y'all.
She is a multi time Olympic medalist in the four

(08:41):
hundreds and the four by four hundred events. That includes
winning the gold medal in twenty twelve, making her only
the second American woman to win the four hundred meter
Olympic race. She was ranked number one in the world
over multiple years. She set the American four hundred meter
record in two thousand and six girl, a record that

(09:02):
she still holds to this day, and was named the
IAAF Female World Athlete of the Year, not once, but twice. Baby.
That's when you do. That's when they can't deny you.
Baby twice okay. Sonya also holds the record for the
most sprints under fifty seconds in the history of the event.

(09:22):
I should have had her training, Mechel because they you'd
had me right, And since retiring from the sport in
twenty sixteen, Sonya has published her memoir, became a cast
member of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, and an Olympics commentator,
which she is coming up very very soon again in Paris.
She and her husband, who is also a world class

(09:42):
athlete as well in his own right, are the creators
and owners of the Pajama Company Coordinates say stay tuned.
You're gonna get to see what that looks like soon.
The brand represents a legacy of determination and achievement and
inspires others to reach their dreams and celebrate their victories,
both big and small, and, maybe most importantly of all

(10:04):
of her accolades, she's a fellow Joma Khan one more time.
Everyone helped me welcome Sonya Richard's Ross to the show.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yes, I love that.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
No, absolutely, Does it ever blow your mind when people
introduce you in spaces like this and they list off
your accolades? Do you ever get tired of that?

Speaker 4 (10:31):
I wouldn't say tired of it.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's just it's so funny because now I feel like
I've been living my life in like different silos, in
different stages. Yes, And it's like sometimes I forget all
of the stuff that I've done because for me, although
obviously winning the Olympic gold was a lifelong dream come true,
it still feels like just the foundation of what I'm
going to go on to do in my life. You know.
It's just like the starting point for me. So it's

(10:54):
it's fun to like reflect on that time. But I'm
also the person who's always like looking for more greatness
and oh yeah for the so I definitely appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
But I mean and to think that track and field
and you becoming an Olympic athlete and winning medals, I
mean that was your springboard for all of the greatness
to come. So I applaud you. I give you your
flowers here as they sit here today and the sky
is literally the limit. And I feel like that's one
thing that we share as Jamaicans or being of Jamaican descent,

(11:25):
is something as a young age, as a child, our
parents always instilled in us. So when you said it
was a dream come true from a young age, was
that always your dream to be an Olympic athlete or
to run track? How did it all start for you? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (11:37):
And I also do want to acknowledge what you said
in the beginning too, you know that Devaal came out
and I just want to also give you your flowers too
because I am such a big fan of you and
your family. I think that what you guys stand for,
it really just shines right through everything that you guys do.
And you know the world needs that. You know, we
need to see black, healthy love. We need to see
beautiful strong men boys, and you guys just have that

(11:59):
in space. And so I'm so tited to finally meet you.
I feel like we've been friends.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
From morning from morning and finally together. I appreciate that.
Thank you so much much.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
You're doing so keep going, But yeah, you know, like
you know track and field is the most popular sport
in Jamaica. So when I was growing up, track was
always all around me.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Were you born in Jamaica? I was you were what part?
No I was? Oh, I was actually born in New York,
But you.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
Can't tell me that, baby, No, I can't tell you know.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
I was born on the rock. So yeah, no, I
was born in Jamaica.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and I stayed there
till I was twelve. My family, my grade when I
was twelve, and so growing up, I remember the country
literally shutting down when the Olympics were on, like people
did not go to work, like it was all about Olympics.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
Right, And so I was like, man, I want that.
You know.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
It's so funny because I didn't think I was somebody
who like was like center of attention kind of girl.
But I've always been that way. So I was like
you were watching me and cheering for me like that,
you know. And so I started when I was seven.
I went out, you know, we had like a fun
day at school to race and do all that stuff.
And I be all the boys and you know, like
the track coach was like you're doing the track team, and.

Speaker 4 (13:05):
Literally my track career started at seven.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
I always tell people, Kadin, I'm so grateful. I think
I got the best of both worlds because being in
Jamaica at that young age where they really nurture track
and field athletes like I was. I was being coached
by the coach who was coaching the national team when
I was seven. Imagine like all that he that he
poured into me. I learned so much about discipline, Like
people were like, oh my god, you're running looks so poetic.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
I learned about form.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Like all that stuff at a very very age.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Yeah. Then my grade to the States and had access
to all these resources here, So it was just like
the perfect storm. And I'm so grateful that my parents,
you know, made the moves when they did, because it
benefited me so well so much.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Right, it was something you had to kind of develop
a love for, you feel like you just kind of
fell into it. And I loved it immediately. Yeah, I
loved it immediately.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
I loved It's funny because as I got older, I
realized I didn't love the training as much as I
loved like winning, right, absolutely, yeah, absolutely, Like I loved competing,
I loved like in Jamaica, chrack and field was like football,
so like Friday night love.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
So we would have meets when I was seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
I'll never forget in the National Stadium and it'd be
like tens of thousands of people in the stands. Like
our school would practice, you know, our school would practice
like their chance and it'll be like son, yeah, champion.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Yeah so.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
You know all yeah, the whole and then my whole
family would fly from the States to come and watch.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
It was a thing. It brought the families. Oh it was. Yeah,
it was a big thing. Is still to this day,
Oh yeah, yeah, still the same. I figure. I feel
like track and field is the biggest out over soccer
is catching up.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
And you would always say track and field and soccer
were the two biggest sports. I think that obviously with
you saying bolts and shelley and stuff completely has gone
like there's no competition for sure, track and field is
the biggest and the most supportive. But yeah, man, I
mean it's a big deal, and it's so good because
when you're that age, it's so good to have something
like that to be able to latch onto, right because
whether you make it or not. As an Olympian, you

(14:55):
learn so much from sports, oh for sure.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
And so I'm just discipline, pres hard work FROMDERI, teamwork,
all those things which we were joking about earlier on
when you walked in that when our kids start running track,
because Jackson's starting our oldest system to start. He's been
playing football, basketball, but he wants to work on speed
and agility specifically, and we said that we're not going
to be able to like just put them into any
program or with any trainer, because we're gonna be able

(15:19):
to sniff out the ones who know and who don't
know the actual like technique that you know is required
for that. So you started at seven, But at what
point did you realize I'm a powerhouse this, Like I
can do this on a larger scale. Like when did
it click to you? Did you have a moment?

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Yeah, definitely. It was my senior year high school.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
So my junior year, I had been competing doing very
well and I had my first like major injury. I'd
pulled like my hamstring on my quadma sole. I didn't
compete as well as I normally did in the like
you know, nationals and stuff. After high school stuff. I
remember being very disappointed and I was in the car
with my dad. It was a summer before my senior year,
and he's like, darling, do you want to be great?

(16:02):
And I was like, of course, Like who doesn't want
to be great?

Speaker 1 (16:05):
You know?

Speaker 2 (16:06):
But I realized in that moment, like he was helping
me understand that greatness didn't just happen because you were talented,
like you had to be intentional. He really wanted to
be great, and so I remember taking that challenge to
heart and we started doing a thousand sit ups every day.
I started watching film, I started eating well, I started resting,
and the results were like immediate. You know. I wrote

(16:27):
the national high school record that still stands today. That
was in two thousand and two, in the four hundred
and it was just I had one of the best
years of collegiate high school careers. And from that moment,
I was like, Okay, if I just put in the
hard work, I could be the best in the world,
because my time that year in high school would have
made the World Championship team or Olympics had I had
that been that season. So yeah, I was like, okay,

(16:48):
I could do this, you know, and it was incredibly
rewarding because my dad had always seen the potential in me.
And I say this about my parents too, and I
feel like this was the balance that I hope will
help other parents who has potentially or who have a
child who also could be great. Is that you have
to you have to you have to be behind them.
You can't be pulling them towards it, like you see

(17:09):
it in them and you're like, oh, d is it
never going to work. They have to want it for themselves,
and then you walk with them, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, my mom and dad did that.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
They told that line so perfectly because my dad was
always like, YEA, go a bit the best metal world
since I was nine.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
He's like, world, be tough. So he was speaking life
to you.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
And until I believe it in my believe for myself
in a minute, I believe that he was all right,
what we're doing.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
You know, he was right there to meet me where
I was at.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
So, yeah, it's funny you say that because we actually
realizing that with our oldest now, so our oldest is thirteen,
how old is your oldest son? Six? Six? Okay, so
we have a little wayte to that mean a year
out from starting when mom day at seven if you
wanted to run track, right, But we even see it
with our son now, like like you said, it's a
difference between wanting to be great but actually training and
working at being great. And with him, we sell the
potential like he can just really be a great all

(17:52):
around athlete. But when they're younger, you tend to kind
of just allow them to try and figure it out.
And it's gone from my husband who also played in
the NFL and had, you know, a really good career,
and it's just I think a born athlete showing our
son that I can want it for you, but you
have to want it for yourself. And we've seen a
switch in him in the past year where it's no

(18:15):
longer us saying, come on, you got to get to practice,
So come on, you should put up a couple of
shots or you know, however many shots a day. It
requires you to just kind of get that rhythm and
that muscle memory as a basketball player. Now we see
him just initiating it. We see him, you know, putting
in the family group chat or on the calendar like
I have practice or I want to go or so
it's very rewarding as a parent when you can see

(18:36):
that when you can speak your life, speak the life
into our children, but then also see them put that
into fruition by working on their own. So shout out
to your mom and dad for knowing from early that
she was a champion. Did you have any particular goals
that you set out to break, any records or anything.
Did you say the Olympics was tangible once you finally
decided in high school that you were going to, you know,

(18:58):
make those times and make that decision in your mind,
like I can do this.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Oh yeah, like I knew I would make a vision
board every year, and on my vision board i'd have
the Olympic gold medals or World Championship goal medals. I'd
put time goals on my vision board.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
I think.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
I think as an athlete, you have to know what
you want. I think that you can't just like hope
that it arbitrarily will happen for you. I think, and
especially in a sport that's decided by tens of thousands
of seconds or you know, half a second, and all
those things get to be so precise, ridiculous. So yeah,
I was always you know, the American record was on
my board, Olympic gold medals were on my board, all
those things, you know.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Because we're seeing numbers, oh yeah all the time.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
And then training too, it's like, you know you're doing
especially for the four hundred hallelujah. You know, like it's
literally like a game of numbers. You know, you got
to come through in twenty three five, the the next
turn has to be twelve five and in thirteen five
and that's forty eight seconds, right, So it's like, you know,
so then you build this clock in your head. I'm training,
I'm like, okay, that's a that'st fifteen seconds, like you know,
so it's a little bit insane, but I felt like
it was necessary in order for me to reach the goals.

(19:55):
So yes, I knew exactly what I wanted. Yeah, I
do all the records I was chasing, and you know,
I was fortunate to hit almost all of my goals
in my career.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
If you did, you ever have a time where you
were just kind of discouraged, like, man, like it's going
to take me this many years to train. The Olympics
only come around every four years, Like is it really
worth it? Because I when I watched the Olympics. I
think about someone who has trained for four years, they
get to the track and there may be a fluke,
accident or something that happens, and it's like, that was
my chance, and I trained four years for this. Did

(20:25):
you ever have those moments of defeat? How did you
give up through those? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (20:28):
So I actually am that person. I had that story.
So in two thousand and eight, I was favored to
win gold. I was undefeated that season. Talking about pressure now, yes,
I was well number one. And the only race I
lost of two thousand and eight was the Olympic final,
the only race of twenty races I competed in. I
beat every single person that field nineteen other times except

(20:51):
for for the Olympic finals. And on the night I lost,
I literally thought I thought I was gonna die.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
I was.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
I literally wanted to just die, because when you cross
the finish line, you know immediately that you got to
wait four more years for the opportunity again. And most
athletes only make it to one Olympics. So this was
my second. So the chance of me going to my third,
you know, it's very slim. And so I was overwhelmingly
broken after that, and it's so crazy because I'll never forget.

(21:20):
So at the time, in two thousand and eight, there
was no Twitter at Instagram, no social media.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
So people the good old good days, the good old days. Yeah,
I know.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
So people had to email you if they wanted to
communicate with you, right, so you had your website and
like you know, and I remember I was on the
stands and I had cried so much because so when
when I walked to the back, Kadeen said, like most Olympics,
they don't like carve your name on the medal or
anything that you just get the medal.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
And I never forget.

Speaker 2 (21:43):
I walked it back and the gentlemen we were in Beijing,
he says, what happened? We had your name on gold
medal and I just like I had finally pulled it together, sir,
and it was not the right time. Right before I
walk out, he said, So I started bawling again. Right,
so I'm on the podium. My eyes are literally bloodshot, right,
I look so sad, and everybody's like righting me, like oh,

(22:03):
you're so ungrateful, like you got a medal, and I'm
just like stoops, Yeah, I'm like you guys don't understand,
Like how hard I work for this, Yeah, and it
didn't happen, you know, and so it took me a
really long time to rebound from that. It took me
a long time to say I want a bronze, like
I lost the gold, and you know, you start to
feel like, am I not a big race competitor because

(22:24):
it's just all of these things that happened. You know,
when that's something that major happens to you, and so
you know, I got a sports psychologist after that and
started working with him, and it really helped me to
put things in perspective and to understand how to because
the reality is when you're at the Olympics, it's no
longer physical. It's all mental because everybody on the line
is physically you wouldn't be there, right, You're the top

(22:45):
eight women in the world, the top eight, like it
has been quantified.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
You are no. No, no, I really am that chick.
No for sure. I check the numbers, the number so
it's you know.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
So then it's about the mental game, like who can
stay present in the moment and execute their race strategy?

Speaker 4 (23:03):
Right.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
I didn't even think of a sports psychologist, like someone
like a therapy session, but specific for an athlete after
I didn't even know that that was like an actual thing.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, and I wish, and honestly, our women like Simone
bows In, you know, recent years have actually brought more
attention to it, which I think has been very helpful
because in my day it wasn't talked about.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
Yeah, you know what I mean, and I really wish.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
I think I would have been even more dominant had
I had.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
I mean, mental health in general has now become a
thing that we're openly discussing.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
But it hasn't been in the past.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
It wasn't and so you know, you just push through
even though you're dealing all these things. So anyway, so
to a very long answer to your question, it took
me a lot to overcome that loss. And I remember
standing on the start line in twenty twelve, and you know,
my sports psychologist told me, he's like, something's going to
happen that's gonna knock you off your block, but you're
going to put your hand on your stomach, You're going
to breathe into your hand, and you're gonna remember all

(23:53):
that you've done to be here. If you watch the
race back, you literally see me do that because I
was in the lane five or six in Alien seven
or eight.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
Was the defending Olympic champion.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
She's the one that one in two thousand and eight.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
And she's British, so she was.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
She literally lived like five minutes from the stadium and
usually when the race starts, I usually get the loudest roar,
right hello, Well.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
They not on that day.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
Okay, they said Christina Rugu and literally it was deafening wow.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
And I was like, oh, where is she from. She's
from Great gat Wait, she's.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
From London, from London, and the Olympics were in London,
so you know what I mean, home court of course,
and she's the final.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
So excited. So I was like, oh my god.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
So like I had to get back in my eyear.

Speaker 1 (24:32):
That was the moment. This is what told me about.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
So you see me put my hand on my stomach,
bringing too the thing and I was like, not on today, honey,
not on today. I refused to lose to I waited
four years for that year, and it felt like I ran. Yeah,
it was really beautiful and so yeah, I suddenly had
my highs and lows. And I think with anything big
that you attempt to do in life, it's par for
the course. You know, success is not a rocket ship

(24:58):
like it is going to have it's and Valley's going
to have his highs and lows, and so yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
I certainly experienced that.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
But man, when I got to finally sound top of
that podium for the individual four.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Hundred, yeah, oh my goodness, I love that for you.
I'm thinking about sports currently and what it's looking like
for athletes in general, but specifically when it comes to
track and field and being a woman in the sport.
How have you seen a shift in that? With nil deals?

(25:32):
You're going to go that direction because and I say
that because it's so different than for example, your story
where you just had to tooth and nail, fight and train,
and the proof was in Sonya Richards at the time,
not Ross but Sonia Richards, the athletes, and not necessarily
what came with that, the potential celebrity or the endorsement

(25:54):
deals or the brand partnerships. Those things weren't a thing,
and ultimately it boiled down to you as a talent.
As a talent, you as an athlete. So now I
know you have two boys of your own. Boy mom's
strolling through over here. But if you had a daughter,
or just for advice for you know, the girl athlete,
the track star who wants to you know, elevate within

(26:16):
that particular sport with these nil deals, how have you
seen like a shift in what the sport looks like
any I guess complications that may arise for an athlete.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
It's a really good question and it's one that I
actually my god daughter, one of my best friends, Breshn Jackson,
has a god daughter. Her name is Shanty Jackson and
has a daughter, and she's my goddaughter.

Speaker 4 (26:36):
Yes, and she's going to be a superstar in the sport.
She is phenomenal, a phenomenal athlete.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
And so when you started to talk about that, I just,
you know, I think of her like, what would I
tell Shaunty as she navigates this very new space because.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
It is very different.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
And I will say this, like, there are a lot
of pros to athletes being able to make money off
of their image and likeness, right because I could tell
you I can talk about this all day because obviously
on the Olympic level, I think that there needs to
be lots of changes made there. I understand on the
college level, especially for football players, how much money they
bring to the schools, and I do think that the

(27:13):
people who are the entertainment, who are putting their bodies
on the line, who are working, deserves to be paid.
But it does come with a level of pressure and
it could be a potential distraction that I just I
don't it's hard to balance the progress.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
It's going to take us some time to see, right.
So for those of you who don't know what an
anil deal, it's name, image and likenss. So you're seeing
more and more. I guess the conversation topic around the
before this even became a thing was the fact that
there are schools, there are institutions, there are boosters, there
are people who are making money, are money and this
is even I could a high school level absolutely that

(27:49):
are making these deals that are using the name, image
and likeness of an athlete who they think, for example,
like with your goddaughter, this is going to be the
next Sonia Richard's Ross, So how do we capitalize on
that now? So it's like, oh, we know that this
person's going to make us multimillion dollars, if not now
in the future, so let's give them a couple of
dollars now just to make them feel okay. And I

(28:10):
think that's also one of the struggles I saw. Even
when my husband had his training program. We had a
couple girls who came up from Jamaica and we're training
with him and the trainer at the time, but sometimes
finance is an issue. Of course, you know, where is
this girl going to stay? Like, how is she going
to survive up here? You know, for all these things. So, yeah,
it's interesting to see, like you said, it being a

(28:30):
benefit but also a potential distraction is from the sport.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, yeah, it's a huge benefit if you have the
right people around you. And you know, because because the
whole thing is, and from my own experience is the
only place I can speak from, is that sport was
so much fun for me and it was this place
of retreat and solace until the pressures and the money
and all that stuff place started to be a part

(28:53):
of it, you know, because now you're making choices based
on those things as opposed to sport just being something fun,
you know. And so what happens when you start to
put money in the mixed, very early for young people,
you start to put the pressures on decision making.

Speaker 4 (29:05):
And now they're the boss and all these things.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
And especially what I think is really challenging is a
lot of young people who are great athletes are first
time millionaires. They don't have people in their circle who
know how to.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
Deal with in that. Yeah. Right, So now you give
a kid who you know.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Is from a situation where you know they may be
whatever the circumstances are, and now they got a million
dollars or five hundred.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Dollars, and it's like, you know, everybody has their hands
out exactly. Everyone's now the expert on what you should
do with your money. The same thing goes for the
NFL athlete, for example, than the draft. Yes, you know,
you get that signing bonus for however many millions of dollars,
and then you leave them to their own devices exactly,
you know.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
So I think that I think the better way to
do it would be, yes, to give athletes what they
are doing based on all that they bring, but maybe
put it in a fund or something where they can't
touch it until they're older, because I think that it,
unfortunately will have an impact on their performance because life changes.
Like when you have money. We all know, more money
more problems than the real thing. And I just feel

(29:59):
like young people should be allowed to be young people.
They should be able to focus, should be fun, It
should be light. It shouldn't be so heavy too early,
because that's going to come anyway, right. But yeah, I mean,
if if the if the colleges are saying, look, y'all
are making us twenty thirty million dollars, we want to
give something back to you, do it, but put it
in a fund where they don't have access to it
until they're maybe twenty one or something. You a good
idea and provide provide good people, like give them good managers,

(30:20):
give them people who can help them manage their money,
like you know, give the money.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
Financial advisors, people who are paid track of these things,
teaching about investments and things like that. Remember for success exactly.
I remember when my husband was playing in the NFL,
they used to have courses like you could come in
exactly and they would kind of teach you how to,
you know, invest your money and the things to do
with it and make it really wise. So that made
sense then, And I think that's a really good, good

(30:45):
point that you've made there. It's like they all controlled
environment where they do have them because they do deserve it.
I mean, I think about some of these girls and
guys that I see out here doing amazing things. But
I can also see how it kind of convolutes the
sport in general and the focus of the Did you
ever have any moments where things were kind of getting
in the way of your goal, your dream, like, you know,

(31:06):
not necessarily a brand deal or per se, but just
something was trying to knock you off of your track.
For lack of a better yeah or pun intended, I
just say, yeah, yeah, so yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
I mean, throughout my journey, I've had a lot of
you know, challenges, whether it was like you said, maybe
you know, whether it was a brand deal or I
always had this vision of like wanting to be the
face of the sport, and like I remember my first Olympics,
I had like eight contract deals, Like wow, do different sponsors,
BMWBP all this stuff? And yes, I do feel like
sometimes those things distracted me from just the pure training

(31:42):
and focus of the sport. I've also had like really
tough challenges in my personal life, you know, And it's
a story that I shared in my book where you
know about two thousand and eight, because I had you know,
people saw what happened, and you know, you talk about
it in the best way you can frame it for
the world, but the reality is there was a more
going on in two thousand and eight that I finally

(32:02):
opened up and shared in twenty sixteen, And so it's
always still hard for me to tell this story, even
though it's been so many years ago. But right before
I left for Beijing, I found out I was pregnant.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
Oh wow.

Speaker 4 (32:18):
Literally the day before I got on the plane, I
had an abortion.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
And so my husband and I had been we were
I think just engaged. We have been together for about
five years prior to two thousand and eight, we weren't
married yet. He had just been off to the NFL
for about two seasons. And you know, at the time,
it was crazy because we also had this like notion
as female athletes that oh, when you're training, when you
got this low body fat, you can't get pregnant. It's

(32:42):
like really like misinformation, like we believe like, oh, I'm
at my fitness, it's no way I could get pregnant, right,
and then bam, here I.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Am, right, which is actually kind of contrary because at
your fittest and your most healthy, it's probably the best time. Yeah,
think about it.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah, yeah, anyway, so you know it was it was
a really challenging time for me, Kadeen, because as a
Christian woman, as someone who desired to start a family
at some point, and someone who always really saw life
as very black and white. For the very first time
in my life, I felt like I was in this
area of gray, and I did not know what to do.
You know. I was like, all my life, I've dreamt
of being an Olympian, and here I am now going

(33:19):
on the precipice of winning my first Olympic gold medal.

Speaker 4 (33:22):
Was what I thought.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
I'm faced with this very hard life decision, you know,
and so I decided to have the abortion.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
I didn't tell.

Speaker 4 (33:30):
My only person that knew was my mom, my sister
in Ross.

Speaker 2 (33:32):
My dad didn't know, my coaches, didn't know nobody now,
and so I travel over to Beijing and I'm still
working and mind you supposed to be fourteen days, do nothing,
do nothing, yea working out, I'm doing every I'm literally like,
oh wow, yeah yeah, because I don't want my coaches
to not w anybody to know them.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
And you know, I reflect on that time and I
and I just sometimes I just weep for that girl,
you know, because it was just it was so hard
on me because I the night before the Olympic final,
I couldn't sleep because I didn't feel like I was.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
Worthy of winning the Olympic gold.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
You know.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
I just I felt like when I had the abortion,
I left a little bit of my soul on the table.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
Right, It's like playing like was this worth it?

Speaker 2 (34:15):
Yes, I never thought I would be in that situation.
And then it was just just a lot of things.
So outside of already the emotional toll it takes on
you to compete at that level. I was in like
an emotional and spiritual warfare, you know, for myself internally.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
So then I talk about the mental exactly in that
it takes not just to run the race, but then
now to deal with this extra exactly you know, situation
that must have been quite a time for you to
get by.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
Yeah, it was really really hard, and so I remember.
But the thing is, and I think at the end
of all of you know, any kind of these stories,
there's always you know, if you allow it, you know,
there are these incredible moments. And so after I lost
in Beijing, I remember getting on a bus to go
find my family.

Speaker 4 (34:52):
I didn't want to go to the village, and everybody
be like, oh, what happened?

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, And so I get on this bus to go
be my family and I get lost, and so I
jump off the bus because I'm literally like heading the
wrong direction. And I'm bawling because I'm like, oh my god,
I'm physically lost. I feel spiritually lost, I'm emotionally lost.
And when I tell you, I felt the loving arms
of God wrap his arms around me in Beijing, China,
on the side of the road.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
It was like I just heard him say, You're forgiven.
You're forgiven.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
You know what.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
It made me realize that God's love is just is
first of all, it's so enduring, it's so patient, it's
so everything.

Speaker 4 (35:27):
It's so kind.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
And God doesn't treat us and love us the way
we love each other.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
Like God didn't want to punish me, no judging it. Yeah,
you know.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
And so in reality, when I and I didn't want
to run the four by four because I was so broken,
I went back on the track. We actually got to
stick behind for the first time ever. When I competed
for Team USA, and I remember, you know, passing the
Russian in the final fifty meters of the race, and
it just felt like the story of God's love, you
know what I mean. It's like he has us, like
he's going to see us through to victory, you know,

(35:56):
if we allow him to love on us. So yeah,
into like, oh no, it's just and I love that.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
And you don't have me emotional too, because I share
a similar story, you know, with Deval and I when
we were younger. I spoke about it in our book
as well too, where it's like you're forced to make
this decision where it's like you're with somebody who you love,
you do see so much. Yeah, and then you have
a moment where you're just like man, I know that,
like above all else. And it's so funny. Devin and
I were having a conversation just while we were on
a vacation for our anniversary fourteen years and he was

(36:22):
just like man like he's talking about his acting career
and like what he can foresee for himself and you know,
are our what's next And he's just like, you know,
I said to him, I said, the dream that you
have to be an actor and that desire, like that's
all you can think about that's me as a wife
and mom, Like everything else to me is secondary. This
is secondary career, Everything is secondary to being a wife

(36:45):
and mom, Like that's something that was my life's dream.
So I can completely relate to you in that moment
where I was like, oh my god, this is the
person who I absolutely love. We were in college at
the time, but nobody couldn't tell us that we weren't
in love. But look here we are twenty two years later,
and it was a decision that we made because we
felt like we weren't equipped in that moment. And I've
played it back in my mind a thousand times, like, Wow,

(37:06):
if I did go through with it, I know God
would have provided and found a way for us to
make things happen and still be okay. But it's such
a hard position to be, and so I empathize with you.
I love that you're able to see the bright side
of it. And fast forward years later, you have your husband,
your two beautiful sons, so it just tells you that
all is not lost, and like you said, feeling that

(37:27):
that loving arm that wrap from God to let you
know everything was okay and you're still worthy. I love
that you had that moment because I've had a moment
very similar to so I didn't even realize that we're
going to connect on that. But a lot of people,
I think can relate to situations like that. For sure.
I'm sure we're not the only women who've been in
that predicament, So shout out to us. So now fast

(37:47):
forward to Sonia Richards, Ross, the mom, the wife, the
new I don't want to say new, but like you said,
the next phase of what it's looking like for you
having had track being kind of like your springboard into
all these things. What was it like for you? Because
I think that's another thing that we can relate on
because I ain't no tracks to our child. However, I

(38:08):
do know what it's like to be married to an athlete,
an NFL athlete, your husband who you call him Ross,
So I hear you were saying Ross, So just what
has it been like for you balancing your successes, your goals,
your dreams, knowing that he also had his or still
has his right How do you guys juggle and balance

(38:29):
that when you both are within your own rights? You know, champions,
you guys are stars.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
Yeah, I mean, you know the good thing for us.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
And I always tell people this, I don't think I
could have been married to anybody else because the fact
that he was an elite athlete and he understood the
sacrifice and the commitment to sport made our relationship so special,
you know. And what was great was that our seasons
were at different times of the year, and so he
would come and support me, I'd come and support him.
The first couple, I would say, the first ten fifteen
years of our relationship was like incredible.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
You know.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
Where the challenge just came into our marriage was after sports,
you know, like when the first thing was having a child.

Speaker 4 (39:05):
Didn't nobody didn't nobody want.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
Us, Nobody told you nothing. But you know what it
is too. I've realized just hearing from from NFL wives,
specifically those who have had husbands retire and they're home
all the time. It's like a disruption of the lay
of the land. You were getting in the way, go

(39:29):
find something to do, find somewhere to go. Or there's
also that transitionary period of now I'm retired from athleticism,
what's the next thing. Fortunately for Deval, he knew that
for him, football was just a means to an end.
Let me, try to play the sport, get a free education,
go to the NFL, get a nest egg, so I

(39:50):
can start this life and become an actor. That was
his past. Wow, So it's interesting to hear you say
that you guys had your issues after Was it something
similar where Ross was trying to find his way after
football or was it just the you know, the exy
flows of life with parenting and stuff.

Speaker 4 (40:06):
I think a little bit of both. So we both
like both retired.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
So Ross had probably retired about two three years prior
to us having a child, and I had just retired.
So I retired in twenty sixteen, baby in twenty seventeen.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
And so you don't waste any time.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
No, No, it was great.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
You knew you're ready.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
Yeah, And I think it was just a lot of
things changing at the same time. So we both retired, right,
we and like you said, now we're living together full time,
which we hadn't done like the whole our whole marriage.

Speaker 4 (40:30):
We were like, I'm a new rope from you know.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
It's like we were just kind of like, you know,
obviously we spent a lot of time together, but because
of our careers, I felt like we we appreciated the
time together so much because we knew, oh, next weekrobably
gone for three weeks.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
You know. So now like this long distance relationship situation
when you have time to miss each other and when
you get together it's like so.

Speaker 4 (40:49):
Good exactly yeah, I been there, yeah, and it was
like perfect.

Speaker 1 (40:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
Then so so we have all these life changes. Who
were both retired, we're living in the same house together.
And then our son was tough, like when she was born.
He was like very clingy kid, like very needy kid,
need a lot from us. I nursed him for three years, wow, exclusively.

Speaker 1 (41:07):
You know.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
And I think that I had expectations of myself, expectations
of him and vice versa. That you know, one of
the things that has made our marriage so successful was
how well we communicated. And I think we really struggled
after baby, because when you're trying to communicate stuff about parenting,
the only thing the person hears is you're not being
a good dad, You're not being a good mom. And
it was never that my husband is the best dad.

(41:31):
Needed him to be a different kind of partner for me, yes,
you know, and sometimes I don't think I was expressing
it clearly and vice versa, Like, sure, I think I
might have been making him feel like he was being
a bad dad. For sure, I had nothing to do
with his relationship with Deuce. It was how he was
supporting me and making me feel.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
And at that time too, when you're a new mom,
you don't even know half the time what you want
you to exactly a lot of times just you trying
to figure out the ebbs and flows of what you're feeling.
Your hormones are on a thousand, they're up and down.
So I can totally relate to that moment. But it's
great that you guys are able to I just find
your way through that.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
It took us a couple of years and then we
got on like track. And that's how come we waited
sometimes to have another one because I didn't want to
risk it, Like I felt like our marriage, like my
marriage is the most important thing to me. Yes, outside
of my relationship with God, it's my It's my marriage
and my children the most important things to me. And
so as much as loud as a noise got from
the outside, you should have another one.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
No, we gonna make sure everything is perfect.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
How many years between two seven years? Six years? See
and Jackson and Cairo's five years because I think it
was a similar thing to Another similarity is that we
two were struggling like those we had a honeymoon baby,
so we got married, got pregnant, honeymoon and right into
parenting and this eff are being together for eight years.
So we had different Yeah, it's so different because we
had our routine, like we knew who we were.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
It was like a tornado, like are we me and
Ross were perfect and boom.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
Like a out of nowhere, out of nowhere. And I
will always say those five those first five years of
our marriage were the most difficult because we were transitioning.
And that's why it took five years to have another
baby between Somebody else can understand how that relate to
that because we were like, you know. Another thing was like,
oh you had one kid, like it's been three years,
it's been four years, it's been five years, and I'm like,
do we really want to throw another child into the mix?

(43:09):
Like right now? No, girl, completely, I completely get it. Yeah,
So what's next for you? Sonya? I feel like you
have so many different things moving and shaking right now.
I love that for you. I love that you are
able to kind of check off the goals and the
dreams that you've had for yourself. So what's it looking
like for you now moving forward?

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah, So you know, I am in a space in
my life right now where I, like you said, it's
my priorities our family. So you know, everything that I
want to do has to feel like it fits my family.
It is the best thing for my family, not going
to disrupt our peace, so our joy and our happiness.
And so you know, we are focused on like the
pajama line which we launched, which I was telling you

(43:52):
all about, which makes me so happy because the pajama
line feels like the perfect reflection of where my husband
and I and my family are now. Z.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yes, we are intimate, Yes, yeah, on each other exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
You know, the idea of family entrepreneurship, creativity, you know,
and the whole idea of our pajamas is that we
want to elevate moments and make them lasting memories, you know,
And so I love to coordinate my family. That's like
our thing, and so to be able to provide that
for others, like even we were at the trials and
we were gifting it to the Team USA because we
have our team and say.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
Collaboration fire, thank you sidebar.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yes, And one of the one of the guys had
just made the team and his wife and kid they
were processing with him, and I said.

Speaker 4 (44:34):
Oh my god, do you guys want to do a picture?

Speaker 2 (44:35):
And what I tell you, like I almost got was
in tears because it's like now he's forever commemorated that
moment with.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
The people who helped him get there.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
You know, as an Olympian, we know it's not us,
it's everyone else who's making sacrifices pouring into us that
helps us to be great. But we're the only ones
that stand on the podium, you know, we're the ones
that are that get to be out there. So for me,
Coordinates is so much more than just a pajama line.
It's like literally bringing families together, you know, supporting each other,
like being in community, and like you.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Know, like it's multi generational too, because you get grandma
and grandpa, some we.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Got the dogs. Everybody's included.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
I love that. I love that you mentioned family and
not disrupting that. Some would beg to differ that your
appearance on Housewives is the anti of that. How's that
experience been for.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
You so and they would be right. But you know,
so this is what I say about that.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
Okay, I feel like, for so long as an athlete,
and I might get emotional, I feel like, so long
as an athlete, you know, it's like you have all
these goals and you put check marks on your board
and you're just like like, you.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
Know, like I'm gonna do I'm gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
And so for me, when Housewives came as an opportunity,
it felt like that, like, oh, another box I get
to check, you know. And as as much as I
went in with the best of intentions getting and I
was like, Oh, we're going to show black love, We're
gonna do all these things, I realized after two years
that that space is not conducive to that. And so
what I learned from that experience is that Sonya the athlete,

(46:12):
all the things I learned, everything is not going to
serve me in this next chapter of my life. I'm
going to have to pull the good stuff and leave
some of the stuff that only serve you as an.

Speaker 4 (46:21):
Athlete no more, know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
And so I still counted all joy because for me,
I feel like every experience in life teaches you something,
and so it was a great experience. I learned a
lot about myself. You know, I found my tribe inside
the housewife tribe. You know, a lot of people who
love on me and support me and never knew who
I was, and they loved my family.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
So it was great.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
But to be honest, it was a really difficult space
to be in because I realized now that I am,
I love people. It's very hard for me to fight
with people and to do all that stuff right.

Speaker 1 (46:56):
It is warranted because listen when needed, Okay.

Speaker 4 (47:02):
Right, I just I can't.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
I can't just do it just because because and relationships
matter to me. I love people, and so it was
a really hard space to navigate.

Speaker 4 (47:11):
As much as I tried to bring all of my.

Speaker 1 (47:13):
All of the goodness, I understand because when they came
knocking at my door it was the same thing. I
was like, I don't know if I can exist in
that space authentically at least, because that's a huge thing
for Yeah, and that's the huge thing I think for us.
I don't know if it's just I don't know if
it's is Jamaican roots, I don't know what it is,
but there's just this living and authenticity that just comes
so easily, and even just with our platform, which I

(47:34):
thank to you earlier in the show for just you know,
loving on me and my family and in the space
that we're in. You know, you never have to uphold
the facade when you're living truthfully, you know, in your actual,
realistic circumstance. And that's why Deval and I are so
adamant that we can see we see it, you can

(47:54):
feel that you're in the house. You know, you feel it,
and that's what people when they do come here, they
do experience us feel the same from you, and I
really really thank you, Like I didn't realize how much
more now I want to get emotional. This wasn't supposed
to be the thing. I just didn't realize how much
more we connect. Yeah, and it's it's it's hard to
find that nowadays. You know, I was even talking to

(48:16):
someone recently, like being down here in Georgia. You know,
I don't really have anyone who I just hang with
and just leisurely can say hey, come by with the kids.
You know, we have a couple of people here and there,
But I do you know, think that we have so
many similarities, so much in common. Our families would probably
connect really well. So I think this could be the
start of like a beautiful, you know, friendship situation you

(48:37):
know a long time. Yeah, I'm saying exactly exactly, but
it's very rare that you can sit, even in a
space like this where it was just supposed to be
an interview, but then you feel like you connect with
someone so kindred spirit baby, through and through, through and
through and through and through. Thank you so much for
your time. We're gonna this actually wouldn't end up going
longer than I thought. But yeah, all right, y'ah, I

(48:58):
know it's getting good, but we're going to take a
quick break and get back to you right after this break.
So typically on a dead Ass podcast episode, we'll do
a listener letter where someone writes and we give them

(49:18):
advice and all that stuff. But I have this burning
question that I'm trying to ask you only because I
know that we're on the precipice of what could be. Okay,
So you've been holding this record for a very long time.
Was it eighteen years to be exact, ten years? How
do you feel about this year? Do you feel like
your record is at risk of being broken?

Speaker 2 (49:38):
So Yes, I've held the American record for the four
hundred for eighteen years, Yes, which is mind blowing for sure.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
I didn't think when I broke it at eighteen years
ago that was staying the test of time. I thought
I was on break it again, to be honest, right
because it was so.

Speaker 1 (49:53):
Early in my career. That's a competitor, and you two
always want until.

Speaker 2 (49:56):
I one up yourself break it like ten times after
before I retired. But but it's just been a joy
to have it. I do think that it is going
to get broken very soon. My homeland makes it twenty years,
so Sydney, just give me, give me.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Two more years. So you're already putting out there this.

Speaker 4 (50:11):
Yeah Sydney, Yeah, Sidney, Sidney.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
The last race is so funny because my colleagues, so, Okay,
here's the real deal.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
This is this give this is dead ass, this is transparent.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
The reality is is that I like when I see
young people like a Sydney and she Cared, I see
myself in them. So I know what it's like to
want to like put records on your board, and so
I feel like, yes, like that record has meant a
lot to me. But records are meant to be broken,
So I'm not sitting over here about.

Speaker 1 (50:39):
To be heartbroken for do you think that you're on
Sydney's vision board with that record? Record is definitely on
the board, Sidney write in you know as a listener,
let us know, yes, that records on the board.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
And I mean the last race, I think she ran
forty eight seventy five. My record is seventy so she
was only five hundreds off the record.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
That means literally the lean right, sure, for sure.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
But I also think you know what it does is
I and I are one of my colleagues. The other day,
Kara Gaucha, who I love to death. She's an Olympian
and world champion. She said to me, She's like sign
and think about it. It's been eighteen years and no
one has been able to run that fast. It tells
you how good that record was when you rean it
and there have been so many advancements and spikes and
tracks and of course there's no goodness and it sounds

(51:24):
like you know what, It really does give good perspective
because some of the best athletes to ever compete in
our sport have been chasing that record and they still
haven't broken it, ye, So you know I'm gonna just
keep that I like it, and then when it's gone,
you know, I've been the second fastest woman to ever run.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
Hord darling to that horror and sitting it as long
as you can, Okay, whether it's eighteen years, twenty or
beyond exactly, thank you. So to round things out, we
normally do a moment of truth. And instead of the
moment of truth on a day with K I want
you to tell me something that you're dead ass about. Oh.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
I mean, I think I probably said it, but I'm
dead as about my family. They don't mess with my family, man,
And that's a.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
Good man, and that's a good man. I love that.
I love that so much. Thank you, Thank you for
for you you did. Yes, it's going to be pulling
up here in like two minutes. I cannot wait. I
am surprised.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
I cannot so normally right, okay, And I can't believe
that I came to the de Vows dead ass and
and didn't bring y'all a pajama set because you guys.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
You know what now that I hit him about it
of coordinate, Yes.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
You guys know, seriously, you guys are the epitome of
what coordinates means. It's all about family. You guys take
the dopest shots, like even like your pregnancy shot you
had the blue and the belly was out in the
gold and stuff like, yeah, you have inspiring the culture
of it out there.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
You started the maternity family. Yes you did.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
You know you did for sure, Like when I was
looking for inseration, like your picture was my little movie.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
I love that. So it's on the way. I know
we've been doing for a long time.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
So it might not be on the episode, but but
and bringing a whole set for your.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Family, my goodness, I love Yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:08):
I hope you guys will love them.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
And I know I can't wait to say some photos
in it too, just because I mean, that's going to
be the US team.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
Yes, so the pajama of Choice, yes that is yes,
So the pajama the Team USA collection means that we
are the official pajama lounger parts of USA. So we
have we're all of tam USA. So the track team
has been totally outfitted. That's like, let me say what
they said.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
It was so funny.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
So the athletes are coming in right and getting their
tam Usa uniforms for the first time.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
Right, it is the first time they're seeing the designs.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
And then and then people was like where the pajamas at?

Speaker 4 (53:41):
It was so funny, like they were adorable.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
That's exciting. So you guys are going to be a
love it. I love that for us. Thank you so much?
Oh my god? And where can everybody find you? For
those of them? I mean you have to be under
a rock for the past however many years if you
don't know who this is. But where can people find
you if they want to follow and see what's next?
What's going on?

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Yeah, so you can follow me on social I am
Sonya Richie ri I c hi Ross on all social platforms.

Speaker 4 (54:10):
So you know what I didn't talk to you about.

Speaker 1 (54:12):
I came back and talk to you about it.

Speaker 2 (54:13):
I have a blog called mom Nation, okay, and we
started the blog about five six years ago, and we
focus on supporting black moms on their motherhood journey.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
And so we do all I think I do. Follow
you guys, I do we have to do. We have
to be more intentional about making sure we connect on
that level for sure.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
So if you follow mom Nation, you get to see
and be a part of our community. We have our
Mammation Gives where we help homeless moms and we do
a lot of It's like my heart when I became mom,
I was like, I can't imagine what it's like for
mothers who lack resources and support, and so I just
want to keep doing my part to support moms. So
follow nation, Yes, support nominations, graves, and then of course coordinate,

(54:48):
said shot Cortness dot com.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
All Right, I love that so much. Thanks y'all for
joining us today. Such a treat just in time for
the Olympics that are going to be in Paris. Girl,
eat it chroissant for me. Yes, come to past, Come
stay with me. Don't tell me what a good time.
Because one thing that stay ready, baby, is that passport.

Speaker 4 (55:11):
A day with period Paris wrote it it.

Speaker 1 (55:15):
You can say, baby, stay tuned. There might be a
part too this all right, all right, all right. And
even though we did not get to listener letters today,
we still have listener letters open and we're waiting for
your emails. So if you want to be featured as
a listener letter, be sure to email us at dead

(55:35):
ass Advice at gmail dot com. That's d E. A.
D A S S A, D V I c E
at gmail dot com, and be sure to find us
on Patreon to see exclusive dead Ass podcast video content.
We have all of the BTS shenanigans right there for
you guys, including the after show, which is my favorite part,
and you can find us on social media at dead

(55:57):
Ass The Podcast. I'm Kadine I am and you can
still find Huppy when he's not filming at I Am Deval.
And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, be sure to rate, review,
and subscribe dead ass y'all.

Speaker 3 (56:11):
Dead Ass is a production of iHeartMedia podcast Network and
is produced by Donor, Pinya and Trible. Follow the podcast
on social media at dead Ass the Podcast and never
miss a Thing