But, until Sunday night, she had carried the tag as one of the sport’s serial underachievers at major championships. Finally, she has put that to rest with her first individual Olympic gold.
Her coach, Clyde Hart, had dismissed Ohuruogu as a rival earlier this year on the basis that the only time she had ever beaten his athlete was in the Beijing final, though it was a dangerous to say about one of Britain’s most ferociously determined athletes.
As Ohuruogu entered the final straight in fifth place and then proceeded to run down her opponents one by one, it was as if we were watching a rerun of devastating late burst of speed in the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
She was in what she has described as her “attack zone” and as she passed Botswana’s world champion, Amantle Montsho, and then American DeeDee Trotter, the crowd in the stadium sensed that Britain could be about to crown its fourth track and field gold medallist.
It was not to be, and it says much about Ohuruogu’s tenacious spirit that her immediate post-race reaction was one of bitter disappointment at surrendering her title rather than claiming a medal in a stadium just a mile from her family home.
After collapsing to the track after the finish, she appeared to be in a daze and it took her several minutes before she rose to her feet to congratulate Richards-Ross.
“I was stunned, I was stunned,” said Ohuruogu. “I was heartbroken actually, to have to lose my title like that.
“It was tough, but Sanya is a worthy competitor and she ran a good race. It could have been worse.
“I could feel my shoulders lifting. It’s really hard to control when you are under fatigue. I thought that I had some time but then, no, it was gone.
“I came here with one thing and one thing only in mind and that was to continue my reign as Olympic champion.”
Defeat may have hurt, but her achievement just to get so close should not be underestimated for it has been a tortuous journey to London 2012 for the 28 year-old.
She blamed a loss of form in 2009 on accepting too many media and sponsors’ invitations, while her 2010 season ended no sooner than it had begun after she suffered a serious tear in her thigh muscle. She still bares the scars with an abnormally shortened tendon in her right leg.
She was still suffering the after-effects of that injury in 2011 after an interrupted winter’s training, and at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace she suffered the indignity of finishing last in front of her home fans.
If that was not bad enough, things got far worse for the Ohuruogu when she false-started in her first-round heat at the World Championships in Daegu and was shown the red card.
But the first sign that the old Ohuruogu was finally returning came in March this year when she ran a storming leg in the 4x400m relay to help Britain to the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.
It was a performance that prompted UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee, a long-standing admirer of Ohuruogu’s fighting spirit, to declare: “Christine is back.” On Sunday night she proved the Dutchman right.
And as she surged towards the finish line, one could have been forgiven for thinking that she had never really been away.
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