Allyson Felix's Incredible Career - Ode to a Superwoman

'Chicken Legs' as she is fondly called defied the odds on Sunday and qualified for the women's individual 400m team to the Tokyo Olympics. This incredible feat saw her finishing second place in the race, running an age class best of 50.02 seconds.

Already the most decorated individual track and field athlete in both the Olympics and World Championships, her feat on Sunday perhaps made a solid case for her as the greatest athlete, period.

Her rise to prominence and eventual dominance has spanned three decades now since when she first registered her name on the World scene with a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. A consistent performer, she was certainly tested before she finally won a coveted individual gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.

A show of Character
The 200m final of the 2012 Olympics may well go down as her most favorable career moment. Prior to that, she had gotten silver at the two preceding games, losing to perhaps her greatest rival in the 200m, Veronica Campbell-Brown. The way she managed to keep her composure and execute that race from start to finish, utterly dominating the field, and Campbell-Brown in particular (who came second) showed mental composure of a truly great Athlete. Some of the biggest performers of that era such as High Jumper Blanka Vlasic never did manage to get it right at the biggest event in the World.

Excellent Team Player
The events she has been decorated the most have been the relays, showing her excellent team playing skills. She has won a variety of medals ranging from the 4 x 100 all the way to the mixed 4 x 400m relays, a testament to her versatility. It is no surprise a lot of her co-athletes respect her so much.

Defying the Odds
Felix's most remarkable feat though should be coming back to top form after becoming a mother. As highlighted in a previous article, there are various physical and psychological challenges athletes face when they become mothers. Very few manage to return to prior form, but Felix has arguably returned better than when she left, with a huge chance to medal again in the women's Individual race at the Olympics.

Her Secret
From what I have studied of her, Felix's longevity can be attributed to two major things: Hard work and her Faith.

Not shy of putting in the work she trained day and night during the Covid lockdowns of 2020, with a clear goal of qualifying for the Olympics.

As for her faith, she has stated that she sees her ability as a Gift from God, and her faith as her biggest motivation.

Whether or not she does medal at the games, she will undeniably go down as one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time.