Harold Wilson

More than four years after former Texas Longhorns Aaron Ross and Sanya Richards met for the first time, the couple continue to be hooked on each other, and focused on finishing first all the time.

Ross, the Super Bowl-winning cornerback with the New York Giants, and Richards, the Olympic championship sprinter, have managed to run down opponents in similar fashion on their parallel journeys to stardom. The speedy Ross, a former John Tyler star, starts for the defending champion Giants while Richards ranks No. 1 in the world in the 400-meter dash.

On a visit to Tyler with Ross more than two years ago, Richards remarked about being interviewed alongside her now fiance for "the first time."

Not surprisingly, it turned out to be the first of many for the two, who reportedly plan to marry within the next two years.

At the time, Richards was only a year removed from her first Olympic experience the previous summer. That also turned out to be the first of multiple appearances for her on the world's grandest stage.

For the second time, Richards qualified for the Summer Olympics in the 400. The 23-year old, ranked No. 1 in the world in the 400-meter dash three years and running, enters the opening round later tonight (11:52 p.m. CST) at the Beijing Summer Games as the odds-on favorite to win her first individual gold medal in her patented event.

At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece, Richards raced to a sixth-place in the 400, but left with gold nonetheless after running the third-leg on the first-place 4x100 relay team.

"I wanted to get a medal," Richards said during an interview with the

Tyler Morning Telegraph in December of 2005. "Going to the Olympics was a major thing. It's only every four years, so it's your chance to leave a lasting impression. It was exciting. It was beautiful. Getting a gold medal at 19 on the relay or individually is an accomplishment."

Since that visit to the Rose City, a lot changed for the pair, who have been a couple since both were enrolled at the University of Texas. Now both compete professionally, as opposed to only Richards, who left two years of college eligibility on the table to turn pro before the Athens Games.

Ross, then a junior at Texas, won a national collegiate championship and the Thorpe Award for the nation's best defensive back before becoming a first-round selection of the New York Giants in the 2007 NFL Draft. With their first-round draft pick playing a starter's role in the secondary, New York finished ahead of the pack, beating the previously-unbeaten New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl.

Once on the other end -- a collegiate hoping to become a star at the time -- the now-accomplished Ross roots for Richards to make the year 2008 even more great.

"All eyes will be on her. She already has one in (the) 4x400, but that's a team (event)," Ross recently said during an interview with

The Associated Press. "Now she gets to compete as an individual."

One who knows about being in the front, Richards remained on her fast pace nearly the whole time. Richards won the USA Outdoor championship in 2005 and 2006 and finished runner-up at the 2005 World Outdoor championships. She ended the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons ranked No. 1 in the world in the 400. She currently holds the No. 6 spot in the 200, making her, along with fellow American Allyson Felix (reigning world champion in 200), arguably the country's, and perhaps the world's, top two overall sprinters along with the likes of Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown (reigning world champion in 100).

During the 2007 season, Richards suffered from Behcet's Syndrome, according to her Olympic biography. The disease causes flu-like symptoms and in Richards' case, brought about painful sores in her mouth that made talking difficult and prevented her from being at her peak much of the year.

Still, she managed to bounce back in time to win the 400 at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month, keeping her hopes alive of staying "No. 1 and winning the Olympics in the 400 in 2008," like she earlier told the Tyler Paper she wanted to do.

To check off the one missing goal -- individual gold -- Richards needs to look no further than Ross for inspiration.

"He has already got his Super Bowl championship," Richards told reporters at the Olympic trials about the wishes of Ross, who won't be able to attend the Olympics due to his football obligations. "He really wants me to get this Olympic gold."

SANYA RICHARDS warms up during her evening practice in China on August 3.
(AP File Photo By Andy Wong)