2006–2008 Pursuit of the American 400 meters record, set at 48.83 seconds by Valerie Brisco-Hooks, became Richards-Ross' goal of the 2006 season. Leading into the World Cup race in Athens, the American woman was on a dominant win-streak and held the world-leading time of 49.05 seconds. She finished the World Cup race in 48.70 seconds, replacing Brisco-Hooks as the new American record holder in the 400 meters. At the time, this personal best ranked her as the seventh-fastest woman ever at the distance. Richards-Ross and her training partner Jeremy Wariner were awarded the 2006 Jesse Owens Award by USA Track and Field after both were undefeated for the entire season and each won their $250,000 portion of the IAAF Golden League. Athletes who win all six Golden League meets in an event claim a share of the $1 million jackpot. For the 2007 season, Richards-Ross decided to expand her résumé, racing more 200-meter sprints and testing her ability to possibly pursue the rare 200–400 meters double Olympic victory in Beijing the following year. Only a handful of athletes have ever achieved such a feat, including Michael Johnson, her coach Clyde Hart's world-record-setting pupil. Things strayed from her plan, as she finished fourth in the 400 meters event at the 2007 U.S. national championships, only qualifying for the 2007 Osaka World Championships by placing second in the 200 meters, behind reigning 200 meters world champion Allyson Felix. In Osaka, Richards-Ross ran 22.70 seconds to finish fifth, as teammate Felix successfully defended her title from two years ago. Both American women reunited for the women's 4 × 400 meters relay, helping Team USA win gold, ahead of the Jamaican team and the British team, which featured the new 400 meters world champion Christine Ohuruogu and 400 meters silver medalist Nicola Sanders. Despite failing to qualify in her signature event at the national championships and leaving Osaka with only a spectator's memory of the individual race, the 23-year-old American woman still finished the year undefeated in the six Golden League 400-meter races and with the number one world ranking. Reflecting on her season, she admitted that losing focus on the quarter-mile race was the reason for her defeat, after constantly shifting mindsets and strategies to race the 100, 200, and 400 meters throughout the season. Coming into 2008, despite being among the most prolific sub-50 second 400-meter sprinters of the decade, Richards-Ross had