Allyson Felix faces her last competition, the World Championships in Athletics, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon, between July 15 and 24. At 36 years old, the most successful athlete in all of history will participate in her tenth World Cup, where she will only run the mixed 4x400. To her credit, she has eleven medals in the Olympic Games (seven gold, three silver and one bronze), seventeen World Cup medals (twelve gold, three silver and two bronze) and a gold medal in the World Cup in covered track. The great dominator of the 200 and 400 meters says goodbye.
The athlete, born in Los Angeles in 1985, has acknowledged in a press conference how excited she is to compete in the last competition of her career in the United States. "For me, finishing at home means coming full circle. It's going to be very, very special," she declared. "Throughout my career I was always a little envious of the athletes who competed at home," admitted Felix, who has conquered most of her great achievements abroad.
Now without so much pressure, after a career full of successes, the sprinter aims to enjoy the World Cup to the fullest. "I'm going to have fun and leave it all out there. It's going to be very emotional," she said. Reflecting on her past, she mentioned the good and bad times that the sport has brought her. "It was an incredible trip, I have enjoyed it a lot. This sport has broken my heart many times but I have also had really happy moments. I will miss it very much," she acknowledged. About her legacy, she hopes she will be remembered "as a fierce competitor." "But the most important thing for me is to try to leave this sport better than I found it," she said.
Beyond her sports facet, Allyson Felix has become one of the main figures in the fight for maternity in sports. In 2018 he had his first daughter by cesarean section and his baby spent days in the ICU. During the gestation period he came to train at dawn so that Nike, his sponsor, would not find out about the pregnancy. Knowing the situation, the brand offered her a lower contract, a fact that the athlete denounced and that led to the breakup of the relationship. Since then, Felix has led a protest movement that forced the brand to change its contractual policy. His last World Championship will be in Oregon, home of Nike.
Other great athletes, such as Noah Lyles, current world champion in the 200-meter dash, also recognize the courage of the runner in facing the multinational company that sponsored her. "For a woman, a black woman, to stand up to that and speak her mind and stand up for what she thinks is right, just by having the courage to try, that's something young people should look at for years to come," Lyles said. before the start of the competition.
