Los Angeles (AFP) – With twenty major titles, the American Allyson Felix, who will retire at the end of the season at the age of 36, is the most decorated female athlete in history, an icon of the sprint, from 100 to 400 m via the relays.
To his superb collection of Olympic medals (seven in gold, three in silver, one in bronze), including two at the Tokyo Games, are added the 18 gleaned (thirteen in gold, three in silver and two in bronze) at the Worlds.
An unequaled track record which gives her a place that is all the more unique as she has continued to win as a mother, a rarity in professional sport, all disciplines combined.
In November 2018, Allyson Felix indeed gave birth to her daughter Camryn in complicated conditions, after only 32 weeks of pregnancy. After which her child had to stay almost a month in neonatal care.
Although happy, this event was seen as the beginning of the end by Nike, its long-time equipment supplier, whose policy towards pregnant athletes she did not hesitate to criticize when she saw that the fees in her contract had been reduced by 70% during her pregnancy.
Silence broken
” When we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during and after the pregnancy. This is one of the examples that proves that the sports industry is still run by and for men “, she wrote in a forum of the New York Times. Enough to bend the brand to the comma, which swore that no pregnant professional sportswoman would be financially penalized.
For the first time in her career, the one who saw herself above all as a sprinter, one of whose basic principles is precisely to stay in her lane, and therefore only displayed a big smile in almost all circumstances, given voice.
This episode ” helped me to understand what was important and to realize that I could no longer remain silent. I didn’t expect to face challenges while giving birth. Before, I was so focused on my performance that it was scary for me to talk about other issues. But I finally feel like I have something to add to the conversation “, she explained to the washington post in 2019, for his return to competition in the American selections for the Doha Worlds.
If she failed to qualify for the individual events there, she made the trip to Qatar and not for nothing, since she came back crowned in the women’s and mixed 4x400m relays.
“Deceptive Fragility”
Proof that his legs, which early earned him the nickname “Chicken legs” for their finesse, and his ample, fluid, incomparable stride, could still work wonders. Gracile (1.68 m, 57 kg), she is of a “ deceptively fragile, as it has an exceptional power-to-weight ratio “, underlines his trainer Bob Kersee.
These athletic qualities, Allyson Felix, raised in a religious atmosphere – her father Paul, pastor of French Creole origin, teaches the New Testament -, attributes them to the ” Creator “: ” My faith is the reason I run. I truly feel like I have this amazing gift that God has given me, and it’s about using it to the best of my abilities. »
What she did from the age of 18, winning the silver medal in the 200m at the Athens Games, with the key to a new junior world record. If her domination was effective at the Worlds, especially in 2007 in Osaka where she lived ” a great moment, as if in a state of grace After her 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m hat-trick, she had to wait until London 2012 to win her first individual Olympic gold medal on the half-lap.
Her excellence at the highest level took her to the Tokyo Games, after a global pandemic due to the coronavirus which forced her to adapt in her preparation and to train on the streets, for lack of facilities. open, like Sylvester Stallone running up the steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the rocky.
“ I’m used to fighting. That’s what I just keep doing “, she summarizes.