Allyson Felix was left without a personal World Championship venue at 400 meters, but he is likely to be part of the U.S. news pool at the Eugene World Championships in July.
EUGENE. Everyone knows Allyson Felixin and Allyson Felix knows everything. At least that seems to be when an American sprinter steps into the meeting room of an Oregon hotel and greets reporters happily. Twenty years in the public eye exude Felix’s liberated behavior.
An amazing sports career ends this season. Felix, 36, competed in the 400-meter final of the U.S. Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Felix was sixth in the race, which means he was left without a place in the 400 meters of the World Championships. However, she is on the U.S. newsgroup, and may run in either the women’s or mixed teams ’4×400-meter post.
The time of the last lap of 51.24 was a couple of seconds behind the record of 49.26 run by Felix in 2015.
– Yes, this was my last personal 400m race, Felix confirmed after the final with a smile to a swarm of journalists.
Two decades at the top
Felix was already 19th in his career at the U.S. Championships. He only participated in the first one as a 15-year-old teen star in 2001. The memory still makes Felix laugh.
– That was when Marion Jones was at the peak of his career. I didn’t make it to the finals. My family looked for me at the stadium after the race and found me in the stands crying. They asked me what miracle I was really expecting. Did you imagine winning Mario Jones? Already at that moment, my family saw the fire in my eyes, Felix recalls.
Achieving five Olympic golds and two World Championship golds in 2000 and 2001, Jones dominated the sprint at the turn of the millennium, but later lost his medal after being caught up in doping.
Over the course of his long career, Felix’s attitude to losses has changed.
– As a teenager, I focused only straight on the need to win. Now as a parent, I can also get something out of failures, Felix says.
Although the United States is the best athletics country in the world, it has not previously hosted World Championships. The change will take place in July, when the World Cup will be held at the iconic Hayward Field in Eugene, the “capital of athletics” in the United States.
– I am really excited that athletes from all over the world come here and see how special it is here. Hopefully the sport gets new fans. Athletics has given me a life I couldn’t even imagine in my wildest dreams, Felix says.
Female athlete of all time
Focusing on 400 meters only in the second half of his career, Felix won a bronze medal at 49.46 and gold from the 4×400 meter at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. The 11-time Olympic medalist became the most successful American athlete of all time past the sprinter Carl Lewisin.
Felix has more Olympic athletics athletics than any other woman in the world. In addition to the Olympic medals, Felix, who has won 13 world championships, names the Tokyo Olympics as the biggest highlight of his career.
– Last year was a dream come true, and I could have stopped there. The decision was difficult and there have been challenges since. However, there are things I wanted to accomplish, and I knew I would have more influence if I still ran. This is more than what happens on the track, Felix says.
Felix won his first Olympic medal in 2004 at the age of just 18 in Athens, silver from 200 meters. Four years later in Beijing, a medal of the same color was a huge disappointment.
– In 2008, I was close to quitting. I wanted to win Olympic gold so hard and I had worked terribly for it. When I got the silver, I was completely broken and in deep water. I was wondering if I would ever succeed in this, Felix reveals.
In London in 2012, Felix’s efforts were finally rewarded with 200m Olympic gold.
Defender of the rights of mothers of athletes
In addition to his extensive sports career, Felix is known as an activist. She has given a face to her sporting mothers and fought for paid maternity leave, among other things. Felix has spoken openly about the complications associated with pregnancy and the birth of her firstborn.
Camryn’s daughter, who spent the first weeks of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit, turns four at the end of the year.
– After the birth of Cammy in 2019, I really wonder if this makes any sense. From that moment on, I experienced severe adversity, and I didn’t know if I would rise to the top anymore. That’s why my fifth Olympics in Tokyo after all the hardships were so relevant to me, Felix says.
Felix is excited about her latest project. She aims to provide childcare assistance for sports competitions. Other transactions, such as its own shoe brand, will continue to keep Felix busy.
Felix plans to run his last race in his hometown of Los Angeles in early August. It’s a sprint race running in the street in honor of Felix. After that, the future of the superstar is open.
– I definitely want to stay in athletics. At least coaching right now isn’t tempting, but I don’t rule it out altogether. There is a long list of things I want to do. I also want to rest a little, Felix laughs.