Sanya Richards-Ross has a painful story to tell.

In her new book, Chasing Grace, which is out today, the four-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field reveals that she had an abortion the day before flying out to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

The sprinting superstar says she made the grueling decision after a phone call with her husband, former two-time Super Bowl champion cornerback Aaron Ross.

"Everything I ever wanted seemed to be within reach," Richards-Ross writes in the new memoir, as reported by TMZ Sports. "The culmination of a lifetime of work was right before me."

Sanya and Aaron weren't married at the time, and that seemingly played into the decision as well.

"In that moment, it seemed like no choice at all," she continued. "The debate of when life begins swirled through my head, and the veil of a child out of wedlock at the prime of my career seemed unbearable. What would my sponsors, my family, my church, and my fans think of me?"

And with that, the abortion was done. Richards-Ross wound up winning a gold medal in those Olympic Games as part of the 4x400 relay team and added a bronze in the 400-meter race that year as well.

Sanya and Aaron would get married in 2010 and she retired before the 2016 Summer Olympics. They're expecting their first child together this summer.

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