Sanya Richards-Ross is hanging up her sneakers and picking up a pen. The five-time Olympic medalist has just announced a three-book deal with the HarperCollins imprint Zondervan.
The first in the series is a memoir about her rise to stardom growing up in Jamaica — a journey that would eventually lead her to becoming the most decorated American female of all time in Track and Field.
“I’ve always wanted to write a book, and there’s a season for everything, ” Richards-Ross told TheWrap of the memoir, which hits July 2017.
“This felt perfectly timed and my hope and intent is to help everyone reach the top of their podium,” said.
The second book, which will weave her athletic experience with messages of faith, will target an age 8-12 demo and is expected to be released in August 2017. The third will be a nonfiction book of advice for young women in 2018.
Off the track, Richards-Ross is an entrepreneur, TV personality, public speaker and humanitarian. She created her foundation, The Gold Standard, to raise awareness and provide financial relief for Olympic hopefuls whose Olympic dreams are limited by the cost of pursuing that goal.
She is also the founder of the Sanya Richards-Ross Fast Track Program, which has provided hundreds of children in Kingston, Jamaica, with literacy training, physical education and healthy meals.
Richards-Ross is repped by CAA.