She had no time for sightseeing, fancy dinners or a night on the town.
After all, the 400-meter star still has work to do to secure her trip to Beijing. So do other big-name athletes like Allyson Felix and Jeremy Wariner, as the second half of the trials starts up Thursday. There are up to 72 Olympic spots up for grabs over the final four days.
Tyson Gay (100 meters) and Bernard Lagat (5,000) are already in, but Felix has some work to do. She's one of the U.S. team's stars, but failed to qualify in the 100.
"I'm definitely disappointed," she said of her fifth-place finish.
She still has her best event, the 200, where she's a two-time world champion and won a silver medal in Athens in 2004.
"I can't get too down," Felix said.
The 200 quarterfinals are Saturday and the finals are Sunday.
Meanwhile, Wariner ran the fastest time in the prelims of the 400 and will battle with LaShawn Merritt for supremacy on Thursday night. They'll be running side-by-side in the finals.
"No matter what lane you're in, if you run your race you'll be all right," Merritt said.
What's it going to take to uproot Wariner, the way Merritt did earlier this year in Berlin, when he snapped the Olympic champion's nine-race winning streak?
"Run like I know I can," Merritt said. "Everybody's going to crank it up in the final."
That's why Richards has ratcheted it down during the off days.