Allyson Felix (born November 18, 1985 in
Los Angeles,
California
) is a track
and field sprint athlete who
competes internationally for the United States
, primarily in the 200
meters. She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist in
that event, as well as being the only woman ever to be a three-time
Athletics World
Championship gold medalist for that distance. She is also an
Olympic gold medalist, winning gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics as
a member of the United States' Women's
4 x 400 meter relay team.
As a participant in the
US
Anti-Doping Agency's "Project Believe" program, Felix is
regularly tested to ensure that her body is free of
performance-enhancing
drugs.
Early life
Felix, born and raised in Southern California, is a devout
Christian and is the daughter of Paul an ordained minister and
professor of New Testament at The
Master's Seminary in Sun Valley,
California, and Marlean who is an elementary school teacher. Felix
sees her running ability as a gift from God, "My faith is the
reason I run – it calms my heart and makes everything feel like a
lift. My speed is definitely a gift from Him, and I run for His
glory. Whatever I do, He allows me to do it."
High School
Allyson Felix attended
Los Angeles Baptist High
School in North Hills, California where she was nicknamed
"Chicken Legs" by her teammates; because the five-foot-six,
125-pound sprinter's body had skinny legs despite her strength. But
Allyson's slightness was at seeming odds with her speed on the
track and strength in the gym, where, while still in high school,
deadlifted at least 270 pounds.
Allyson didn't discover her gift until she tried out for track in
the ninth grade. Just ten weeks after that first tryout, she
finished seventh in the 200 at the state championships; in the
coming seasons, she became a five-time California high school state
champ. As a senior, Felix finished second in the 200 at the US
Indoor Track & Field Championships. A few months later, in
front of 50,000 fans in Mexico City, she ran 22.11 seconds, the
fastest in history for a high school girl.
Felix graduated in 2003, making headlines by foregoing college
eligibility to sign a professional contract with
Adidas.
Adidas paid her an
undisclosed sum and picked up her college tuition at the University of
Southern California
. She has since graduated with a degree in
elementary education.
Felix has also shown that she can overcome adversity. During her
junior year of high school, she pulled a hamstring at the state
championships and re-injured it a few weeks later at the US Junior
National Championships. By the time she made it to the World
Juniors in Jamaica, she had lost her edge and ended up in fifth
place. News articles said Felix had choked, but she kept her head
up. "That was an extremely hard time," she said. "I had to depend
on God."
Professional
Allyson Felix in Osaka 2007
At just
18, Felix finished as silver medalist in the 200
meters at the 2004 Summer
Olympics, behind Veronica
Campbell of Jamaica
; in so
doing, she set a World
Junior record over 200 meters with her time of 22.18.
Felix is coached by
Bobby Kersee -
husband & coach of Olympic champion and world record holding
heptathlete,
Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
Felix
became the youngest ever gold medalist sprinter in the 200 meters
at the World Championships in Helsinki
in 2005 and then
successfully defended her title at Osaka
two years
later. At Osaka, Felix caught Jamaican Veronica Campbell
on the bend and surged down the straight to finish in 21.81
seconds, lowering her own season-leading time by a massive 0.37
seconds. After the final she stated that "I feel so good, I am so
excited. I have been waiting for so long to run such a time, to run
under 22 seconds. it has not been an easy road, but finally I
managed," said Felix. At that time, she addressed her future,
saying, "My next goal is not the world record, but a gold in
Beijing. I want to take it step by step. I might consider to do
both -- the 200 and the 400 meters -- there." In 2007, Felix became
only the second female athlete; after
Marita
Koch in 1983 to win three gold medals at a single
IAAF World Championships
in Athletics.
Felix continues to lift and press heavy weights as part of her
training routine. Currently Felix can leg press 700lbs despite her
size.
Felix fully qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games during the 2008
Olympic trials in the 200 metres, but just missed qualifying for
the 100 meter. However, at the 2008 Summer Olypmics in Beijing,
despite running her season's best time in the
200
meters at 21.93, Felix again finished second to Campbell, who
ran 21.74 to clinch the gold medal. Felix also ran the 400 meters,
but only as a member of the U.S. women's relay team in that event.
The team finished first, giving Felix her first Olympic gold
medal.
In the build up to the
2009 World Championships
in Athletics Felix was part of a United States
4 x 100 m relay team that ran the fastest
women's sprint relay in twelve years.
Lauryn Williams, Felix,
Muna Lee and
Carmelita Jeter finished with a time of
41.58 seconds, bringing them to eighth on the all time list.
In 2009 aged just 23, Felix proceeded to claim her third 200-metre
World Championships gold medal, an unprecedented accomplishment in
women's sprinting. Felix clocked 22.02sec to comfortably beat
Jamaica's Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown. Afterwards
she said, "It's really special to win a third world title. I wanted
to do it in this stadium, represent my country and make Jesse Owens
proud." But Felix would rather have the one gold medal that is
missing during the four years it has taken her to win three
consecutive 200-meter titles at the biennial world championships.
"I would love to trade my three world championships for your gold,"
Felix said to Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica at the medalists'
news conference. That is the 2008 Olympic gold medal in the 200, a
race Felix, from Valencia, was heavily favored to win. She was
distressed over finishing second to Campbell-Brown when it happened
in Beijing and still obsessed about it a year later. "I don't think
I ever want to get over it," Felix said. "I never want to be
satisfied with losing." At the same time she also commented, "I'm
just grateful to have had success quickly, and sometimes I do have
to pinch myself and realize all this has happened in not that much
time."
Achievements
Competition record
Felix winning the second semifinal of
the 200 m in Beijing
Felix celebrating her victory in
Osaka
Personal bests
| Event |
Time (seconds) |
Venue |
Date |
| 60 meters |
7.32 |
Roxbury, Boston , Massachusetts , United States |
February 28, 2004 |
| 100 meters |
10.93 |
Doha ,
Qatar |
May 9, 2008 |
| 200 meters |
21.81 |
Osaka, Japan |
August 31, 2007 |
| 300 meters |
36.33 |
Fayetteville, Arkansas , United States |
February 9, 2007 |
| 400 meters |
49.70 |
Stockholm , Sweden |
August 7, 2007 |
- All information from IAAF profile.
References
- US sports stars try to dim doping fears with
"Project Believe". Agence France Press (2008-04-16).
Retrieved on 2009-08-09.
- USA Track & Field bio > Allyson
Felix
- Spikes, the new heroes of athletics | Athletes >
Heroes > Allyson Felix
- USC OLYMPIANS: 1904-2004, USC Trojans Athletic
Department, Accessed August 26, 2008.
- Sprinter Allyson Felix graduates to the big time
- The World's Fastest Teenager - Today's Christian
- 2007 USOC Awards Announced
- Wenig, Jörg (2009-08-08). US quartet blasts 41.58 in the 4x100 as Wlodarczyk
improves to 77.20m in Cottbus. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-09.
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