perform on the sport's biggest stages. The newly crowned world champion then anchored Team USA to a gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 meters relay. The winning time of 3.17.83 minutes was the sixth-fastest time in history, up until then, with Richards-Ross unofficially splitting 48.43 seconds on her anchor leg. Upon leaving Berlin, Richards-Ross returned to the track to continue her 2009 IAAF Golden League win streak. In addition to winning the Berlin meet in 49.57 seconds, Oslo in 49.23 seconds, Rome in 49.46 seconds, and Paris in 49.34 seconds, all before the world championships, she claimed victory again in the last two Golden League meets in Zürich and Brussels, with times of 48.94 seconds and 48.83 seconds, respectively. This was her third time sweeping the IAAF Golden League meets, a feat she accomplished in 2006 and 2007 as well, allowing her to once again earn a share of the $1 million jackpot. After a 49.95-second win in the 400 meters IAAF World Athletics Final meet, she broke Marita Koch's record for the most career sub-50 second performances, surpassing Koch's total of 35 with her own total of 41. Her only defeat this season, in any event, was to the now three-time defending 200-meter world champion Allyson Felix at the IAAF World Athletics Final in the 200 meters, with the victor discerned via photo finish and Richards-Ross declared second in an identical time of 22.29 seconds. To cap off the successful season, the 24-year-old American woman, along with Usain Bolt, were named the 2009 IAAF World Athlete of Year. The next two outdoor seasons, however, proved to be difficult and disappointing for the defending world champion. A quad injury right before the 2010 Penn Relays forced Richards-Ross to prematurely end her 2010 season to rest and regroup. She bounced back in 2011 to run a 49.66-second 400 meters race at the London Diamond League meet, just prior to the 2011 Daegu World Championships, sparking some optimism of rounding back into top form in time for the major competition. In Daegu, Richards-Ross struggled to find her rhythm as she narrowly qualified for the 400 meters final and then wounded up seventh in a time of 51.32 seconds. She later returned in the 4 × 400 meters relay, this time running the lead-off leg in 49.1 seconds and setting the U.S. women up for victory. 2012 Road to London Healthy