Allyson Felix

Allyson Michelle Felix

Personal information
Nationality	United States
Born	November 18, 1985 (1985-11-18) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Residence	Santa Clarita, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight	125 lb (57 kg)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 10.93 s (Doha 2008) 200 m: 21.81 s (Osaka 2007) 400 m: 49.59 s (Daegu 2011)
Medal record Women's athletics Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing 4×400 m relay Silver 2008 Beijing 200 m Silver 2004 Athens 200 m World Championships Gold 2009 Berlin 200 m Gold 2009 Berlin 4x400 m relay Gold 2007 Osaka 200 m Gold 2007 Osaka 4×100 m relay Gold 2007 Osaka 4×400 m relay Gold 2005 Helsinki 200 m Gold 2011 Daegu 4×100 m relay Gold 2011 Daegu 4×400 m relay Silver 2011 Daegu 400 m Bronze 2011 Daegu 200 m World Indoor Championships Gold 2010 Doha 4×400 m relay World Athletics Final Gold 2009 Thessaloniki 200 m Gold 2006 Stuttgart 200 m Gold 2005 Monte Carlo 200 m Silver 2007 Stuttgart 100 m Bronze 2006 Stuttgart 100 m Pan American Games Gold 2003 Santo Domingo 4×100 m relay Bronze 2003 Santo Domingo 200 m World Youth Championships Gold 2001 Hungary 100 m

Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for the United States, primarily in the 200 meters. She also competes at the 100 meters and the 400 meters distances. She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist at the 200 meters, 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 meters 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 at Balboa Magnet Elementary. Her older brother, Wes Felix is also a sprinter, and was the Pac 10 200m champion in 2003 and 2004. Wes now acts as the agent for his sister. 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 Felix's slightness was at seeming odds with her speed on the track and strength in the gym, where, while still in high school, she deadlifted at least 270 pounds. She credits much of her success to her coach, Wes Smith.

Felix 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 CIF California State Meet. In the coming seasons, she became a five-time winner at the meet. In 2003 she was named the national girls' "High School Athlete of the Year" by Track and Field News. 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 (though it could not count as a World Junior record because there was no drug testing at the meet).

Felix graduated in 2003, making headlines by forgoing 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.

Professional

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 700 lbs despite her size.

Felix fully qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games during the 2008 Olympic trials in the 200 meters, but just missed qualifying for the 100 meter. However, at the 2008 Summer Olympics 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.

Felix during the 200 m final at the 2009 World Championships

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-meter 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.

Felix winning on the 2010 Diamond League circuit

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."

In 2010, Felix focused on running more 400 m races. Running the 200 m and the 400 m, she became the first person ever to win two IAAF Diamond League trophies in the same year. She continued her dominance by winning 21 races out of 22 starts, only losing to Veronica Campbell-Brown in New York. Incidentally, it was there that Brown set the WL time of 21.98 seconds. In 2011, Felix attended the 'Great City Games' held in the streets of Manchester on 15 May. It was there that she set the world leading time in the 200m, which was 22.12, she also ran a 10.89 in the second 100m of the race.

At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Felix participated in the 200 and 400 metre events, as well as the 4×100 and 4×400 metre relays. In the 200 metre event, Felix was drawn in heat 3 and placed second behind Dafne Schippers in a time of 22.71. In her semi-final, Felix again finished second behind rival Veronica Campbell-Brown in a time of 22.67. In the final, Felix was drawn in lane 3 and finished third in an under-par time of 22.42. Veronica Campbell-Brown won the gold and Carmelita Jeter won silver. In the 400 metre event, she took second place in her heat in a time of 51.45. Felix then won her semi-final in a time of 50.36, ahead of rivals Novlene Williams-Mills and Antonina Krivoshapka. Felix was placed in lane 3 in the 400 metre final and finished second in a time of 49.59, 0.03 behind winner Amantle Montsho.

In the relay events, Felix ran the second leg in both events against reputable athletes such as Kerron Stewart and Kelly-Ann Baptiste in the 4×100, and Davita Prendergast and Nicola Sanders in the 4×400 metre event. Felix went on to claim gold in both events and attained world-leading times in both finals

Achievements

Competition record

Felix winning the second semifinal of the 200 m in Beijing

Felix celebrating her victory in Osaka

Year	Competition	Venue	Result	Event
2004	US Olympic Track and Field Trials	Sacramento, California	1st	200 m
	2004 Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	2nd	200 m
2005	USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships	Carson, California	1st	200 m
	World Championships in Athletics	Helsinki, Finland	1st	200 m
2006	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	200 m
			3rd	100 m
2007	USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana	1st	200 m
	World Championships in Athletics	Osaka, Japan	1st	200 m
			1st	4x100 m relay
			1st	4x400 m relay
2008	2008 Olympic Games	Beijing, China	2nd	200 m
			1st	4x400 m relay
2009	World Championships in Athletics	Berlin, Germany	1st	200 m
			1st	4x400 m relay
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	1st	4x400 m relay
2010	IAAF Diamond League	Paris, France	1st	200 m
		Stockholm, Sweden	1st	200 m
		London, England	1st	400 m
2011	IAAF Diamond League	Doha, Qatar	1st	400 m
		Rome, Italy	1st	400 m
		New York City, United States	1st	200 m
	USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships	Eugene, Oregon	1st	400 m
	World Championships in Athletics	Daegu, South Korea	2nd	400 m
			3rd	200 m
			1st	4x400 m relay
			1st	4x100 m relay

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	49.59	Daegu, South Korea	August 29, 2011

• All information from IAAF profile.

External links

• Official website
• USA Track & Field – Allyson Felix
• Allyson Felix Pictures
• IAAF profile for Allyson Felix
• SPIKES Hero profile on www.spikesmag.com
• Allyson Felix's U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Q&A
• Bio in own words
• 2007 interview
• "Allyson Felix", n°6 on Time’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

Awards
Preceded by No Award Given	Women's Track & Field ESPY Award 2006	Succeeded by No Award Given
Sporting positions
Preceded by Debbie Ferguson	Women's 200 m Best Year Performance 2003	Succeeded by Veronica Campbell
Preceded by Veronica Campbell	Women's 200 m Best Year Performance 2005	Succeeded by Sherone Simpson
Preceded by Sherone Simpson	Women's 200 m Best Year Performance 2007	Succeeded by Veronica Campbell