What To Watch For As Allyson Felix Prepares To Ride Into The Sunset

Allyson Felix competes during the women's 4x400-meter relay final at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Aug. 7, 2021 in Tokyo.

It's All About The 400 Now

This week’s 200-meter is a throwback for Felix. For her first several years as a pro, the half-lap sprint was her specialty. Felix won world titles at the distance in 2005, 2007 and 2009, to go with Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008. She finally broke through on the Olympic level in 2012, when she outsprinted the field to claim the gold medal. In the years since, Felix has gradually shifted her focus to the 400. She won the world title in that event in 2015, then added Olympic silver in 2016 and Olympic bronze last year in Tokyo.

Felix Is A Fighter

For much of Felix’s career, podium finishes at major championships were almost an inevitability. That wasn’t the case in Tokyo. By the time she raced in Rio in 2016, where she won three medals, Felix was already 30 years old. The five years that followed brought a lifetime of new challenges. In November 2018, while pregnant with her first child, Felix was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia. Daughter Camryn was born at 32 weeks via emergency C-section and weighing just 3 pounds, 7 ounces. After spending her first month in the NICU, Camryn grew into a healthy baby girl. Mom came through stronger, too. In the years since, she’s become a vocal advocate for maternal health and women’s empowerment. She also was back at the world championships in 2019, where she won two relay gold medals just 10 months after giving birth.

Still, the cards were stacked against her going into the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 — especially after they were postponed a year due to COVID-19. Yet at 35 years old, Felix ran her fastest 400-meter time in six years in Tokyo to claim the bronze medal. One day later, she won her seventh Olympic gold medal, and 11th total medal, as part of the women’s 4x400 team. “I’m a fighter,” she said afterward. “The last couple of years, it’s what I’ve done, so I knew I just needed a chance.”

She’s Already A Legend

The storybook ending for Felix comes with a swansong at Hayward Field for the world championships. Track and field isn’t always so accommodating. Felix, like everyone else, will have to earn her spot in Eugene with her results. Regardless of what happens in these next several weeks, though, Felix’s legacy in the sport is intact. By any definition, she’s already in a class among the very greatest in track and field history. In Tokyo, she tied and then surpassed compatriot Carl Lewis to become the second most decorated athlete in Olympic track and field. Only Paavo Nurmi, the great Finnish distance runner from the 1920s, has more medals with 12. No woman has won more than Felix’s seven Olympic track gold medals either, while only four men do so. Meanwhile, in 2019, Felix took over as the most decorated athlete period at the world championships, upping her tallies to 13 golds and 18 total medals.

After her final race in Tokyo, Felix said she’d “given my all to the sport and there’s nothing left on this Olympic stage that I feel like I need to do.” There’s nothing more she needs to accomplish at the world championships either. And yet she’s back for one more go, giving fans a few more opportunities to witness one of the all-time greats.