The ring she discreetly showed the Sunday Observer on the third finger of her left hand was large enough to make a royal blush, and as world's top 400m runner Sanya Richards shared about her fiancé, New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross, she exuded joy.

The couple got engaged in front of a large television audience in December last year when Ross, who plays for NFL team New York Giants, proposed right before the team were to play a game against the Washington Red Skins, which was broadcast on television.

RICHARDS... to wed NFL star in 2010

"It was on December 16 last year right before they played the Red Skins. We were doing a TV thing for NBC and he thought it would be the best time to ask me, so it was actually on TV and broadcast during the game that night," she shared.

The pair, who has been dating for five years, met while they were both student-athletes at University of Texas at Austin.

"He played football there. I was actually a sophomore and he was a freshman because of some difficulties he had in school and had to leave for two years, so we met in my sophomore year," she said.

Despite busy schedules, Richards said the timing works out well for them both.

"It works out perfectly because right when his season is ending he gets to come and support me and when my season is over he is playing, so I get to watch him, so we get to spend time together and every time he is off he always comes back to Austin."

Ross was with Richards yesterday watching her compete at the Jamaica International Invitational Meet at the National Stadium in Kingston.
The couple has planned a wedding for 2010. They had initially thought about early 2009, but Richards said she didn't want to take her focus away from the upcoming Olympics.

"We have a very small window that we can get married because he has a full season and so do I, so it's going to be February/March of 2010."

2008 promises to be a big year for the couple. Ross, who in 2006 won the Thorpe Award for being the NCAA's best defensive player while helping the University of Texas Longhorns to the NCAA Championship, was a first-round draft pick in 2007 and was selected by the New York Giants.

In his first year with the Giants he helped the team win its first superbowl in 17 years by defeating favourites New England Patriots, 17-14, on February 3 for Superbowl XLII and the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

"For him to go there in his first year and win a title is an amazing blessing," Richards told the Sunday Observer.

Now, she said, she hopes she will be able to fulfil her end of the bargain by taking gold in the women's 400m at the Beijing Olympics in August.

"We would definitely be a golden couple if I able to that, so it's really exciting," she said.

The Audacity of Art

Marjorie Whylie to receive Stella Gregory Award

Traditional Thanksgiving offerings at EVITAS