Here’s What’s on Olympian Sanya Richards-Ross’s Running Playlist

Sanya Richards-Ross may not be competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, but she’s still there as an NBC commentator — and she since she’s won four gold medals in past Olympic years and still runs all the time, there’s no one more qualified for the job. She told us in a recent interview, “Running for me feels like I’m flying and I’m free. It’s so much fun, and once you get a rhythm going, you become used to it and it becomes an enjoyable exercise.” And Sanya may need that fun and freeing effect now more than ever, because as the co-founder of the Gold Standard foundation for Olympic hopefuls and a recent athleisure collaborator with Nike, girlfriend is busy.

Luckily, the music fan finds that killer tunes make workouts a piece of cake. She shared with us her fave workout playlist to listen to while she’s training on the track or on the street. And you’ll definitely want to take notes.

She’s a big fan of both Beyoncé and Rihanna, and loves to put them both on most of her playlists. “Lemonade just came out; you can jam to that for 30 minutes and you won’t even remember that you’re running.” She says that she has basically been listening to the album non-stop since it came out, and who could blame her?

Reggae is her fave thing to listen to when she wants to feel connected to her Jamaican roots. Richards-Ross said, “I started running when I was seven years old. I was born in Kingston, Jamaica and track-and-field is the biggest sport there. I felt like everybody ran, and when I was seven we had a fun sports day at school, and I beat all the girls AND the boys — I’ve been running ever since.”

She says that her music choices are about her vibe. When she needs a pick-me-up, she listens to gospel music. She listens to Drake or hip-hop when she needs some help getting motivated, or when she’s feeling more “hardcore.” We’ve seen her game face, and you can trust us — she definitely gets hardcore.

Basically, she advises runners to get to truly know themselves and create a playlist based on what they’ll need for each run. It’s all about motivating yourself and making sure that you’re feeling connected with your body. She told us, “My music choices are about my mood, and I try to connect to that through my music and use that to motivate me and push myself through my run. I think that it’s important to know how you’re feeling so that your music inspires you.”

We couldn’t agree more, and we’ll be using some of her tips the next time we lace up.

What do you have on your workout playlist? Tweet us @BritandCo!

(Photos via Christian Petersen/Getty)