Allyson Felix has been racing, and winning for nearly a decade now. She has been a professional athlete since she graduated high school. Racing from 100 to 400 meters, plus a requested member of either the long or short relays, Allyson Felix has not reached her best–that could be two Olympics away!
Coached by Bob Kersee, Allyson Felix is preparing to defend her title from Osaka in 2007. She has raced well this year, at both 200 meters and 400 meters. Her focus is the Berlin 200 meters, period.
When asked this past March about the relays, which she excels, Allyson was clear: ‘ I love running the relays and would race if asked.” As one of the top sprinters in the world, Allyson is also a quite accomplished on both the 4 x 100 meters and 4 x 400 meter relays.
Allyson’s race at the Reebok Grand Prix, where she ran down the field in the 400 meters, running the world’s leading time, 50.5 (Sanya Richards has since run 49.57), showed Allyson’s ability to focus and dig at the end of a race-the skills needed for anyone who wants to excel in the global sprint world.
Sprinters come and go. One fast race does not a career make. Allyson has built a sports resume, over the past decade, that shows her versatility and her true talent. Ms. Felix does not take anything for granted. Her close knit family, her deep religious convictions, her confidence in her coaches’ training, and her maturity, all make her the poster child for young athletes who go professional right after high school.
Allyson Felix has goals. She has graduated from college. She wants to defend her title at 200 meters, but she will not tell us when she will move up for good to what many think is her best distance: the 400 meters. ” I can run faster at 200 meters and 100 meters, ” Allyson insists.
We look forward to Berlin 2009, not just for the men’s 200 meters, but the women’s 200 meters should be quite the battle. Stay tuned!
Special thanks to Lyn Famiglietti, adidas communications.
To learn more about our sport, we encourage our readers to go to the
following places:
http://www.iaaf.org to learn about our global sport.
http://www.usatf.org to learn about the sport in the U.S.
http://www.runningnetwork.com to find a local running community, running store, running event, or to get involved in the grass roots culture of our sport.
To reach Runblogrun.com, please email runblogrun@gmail.com