Athletes

Allyson Felix has been setting the track alight since she was a kid. Still in her early twenties, the Los Angeles resident has already achieved a staggering amount.

It was at high school in Southern California where Allyson, then 14, discovered her talent for sprinting — and where she picked up the nickname ‘Chicken Legs’.

Her first foray into international athletics came in 2001 when she won the world youth 100m title in Debrecen, Hungary.

In 2002 she smashed the 23-second barrier for the 200m.

Off the back of these performances she was selected to represent the USA in the 200m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica. But unbeknown to many, she had sustained two serious injuries before the competition and had to settle for fifth in the final.

The following March Allyson won her first national senior title at the US Indoor Championships and went to the IAAF World Indoor Championships where she missed out on the final by one place.

But just two months later she made history. Competing in front of 50,000 people in Mexico City, she ran the 200m in 22.11 — the fastest-ever performance by a junior athlete. Unfortunately it did not count as a record because of a lack of testing at the competition. She had, however, become an overnight phenomenon and athletics fans the world over knew she was something special.

And she proved it in 2004 when she won a silver medal at the Athens Olympics despite still being a junior — and her 22.18 there was an official world junior record.

Her first senior global title came in her first full senior year: 2005. On a rain-soaked track in Helsinki, Allyson cruised to 200m gold. She also went undefeated in the half-lap event throughout the year and thus started her reign as the world's leading female 200m runner.

In 2007 she showed her versatility, setting a then-100m PB of 11.01 (bested in May 2008, it now stands at 10.93) and running the 400m at the IAAF Grand Prix in 49.70, beating Sanya Richards, the world's leading one-lap runner, in the process.

But Felix’s most outstanding performances that year — and of her career to date — were at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka. She won the 200m in 21.81 — the first time the 22-second barrier had been broken since 2000 — and won two more gold medals in the relays, producing a stunning 48-second leg in the 4x400m, possibly the fastest split in history by an American woman.

She is only the second female athlete to win three gold medals at a single World Championships.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics - despite producing a season's best time of 21.94 - she had to settle for the 200m silver medal behind Jamaica's sensational Veronica Campbell-Brown. Felix did pick up the consolation of Olympic 4x400m gpld as part of the US quartet.

It would be easy for such success to have gone to her head, but Allyson stays humble thanks to her family upbringing: her father is an ordained minister and Allyson sees her running ability as a gift from God.

Interview

Q You were still in high school when many people predicted you were a star of the future. How did you deal with that pressure?

A I really didn’t think about what people expected me to do. I had my own goals and I tried my best to focus on them. I knew it was going to take time for me to develop and that things were not going to happen overnight. Also my family has always helped me keep things in perspective.

Q You are very versatile. Which event/events do you see yourself contesting regularly in the future?

A I can’t limit it to one event. I’m completely in love with track and field and I feel like I’m learning all the time. It is fun for me to run all three events. I know that in championships I will have to choose which event to focus on, but I think that decision will come after the Olympics. I feel I have the most room for improvement in the 400m. That’s still a new event for me and so I would love to run it on a world stage.

Q Some have said that the 200m world record of Florence Griffith-Joyner is untouchable. Do you agree?

A When I first came on the scene and realised how fast the 200m record was, I thought it couldn’t be touched. Now I’m optimistic about it. But it’s going to take a long time.

Q Were you ever tempted to follow a full-time religious career rather than athletics?

A No. But I’ve always known that I would be able to bring my faith into my career.

Q Why is your nickname ‘Chicken Legs’?

A I got the name in high school because I had long, skinny legs. It was all in fun, though I didn't really like the name.

Q But you can leg-press 315kg…

A Back in high school I was on a very different weightlifting programme. My legs were extremely strong. Now I follow a different philosophy because the heavy lifting was damaging my hamstrings. But I still feel I’m strong.

Q What is your favourite training session?

A Speed work. There is something about going fast that appeals to me.

QWhat is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

A That running fast takes time and patience.

QYour older brother Wes is a 10.20 100m and 20.40 200m runner. Were the two of you very competitive as youngsters?

A My brother has always been great at sports and when I was little I was forever chasing after him. Whatever he was doing you could be sure to find me there, too – but he was always winning.