Allyson Felix

Allyson Felix

In Rio Allyson Felix won two gold and one silver medal but success at the Olympics is nothing new for her. She is tied with Marlene Ottey as the most decorated female track and field star of all time with a total of nine medals to her name.

Allyson was a prolific athlete in high school which earned her a sponsorship deal with Adidas after she graduated. Her success on the international stage happened early in her career. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, aged just 18, she won a silver medal in the 200 meter event where she also set a World Junior Record with her time of 22.18. The following year at the World Championships in Helsinki she won gold in the 200 meters (the youngest woman to ever achieve this). She successfully defended this title two years later in Osaka.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing it took the fastest performance of the decade from Veronica Campbell to pip Allyson to second place. She did however win her first Olympic gold medal as a part of the 4 x 400 meter relay team. In London in 2012 Allyson finally won her first individual gold medal in the 200 meter race as well as winning gold in the 4 x 100 meter and 4 x 400 meter relay events. In doing this Allyson became the first woman since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals in athletics at one Olympics.

Her success continued in other major events by winning medals at the World Championships in 2011 and 2015. In Rio this summer Allyson cemented her legacy by again winning gold medals in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 meter events as well as winning silver in the 400 meter event. To date Allyson has won a total of 33 medals at major athletics competitions and a number of individual awards including the IAAF female athlete of the year and the Jesse Owens Award from the USATF four times.

-Michelle O’Brien
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.

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