TeamUnited States of America
Athletics
Olympic Medals
7G
3S
1B
Games Participations5
First Olympic GamesAthens 2004
Year of Birth1985
Biography
Allyson Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete in history. With a record 20 World Championship medals and 11 medals at the Olympic Games - including seven golds - she ranks among the sport's greats.
In 2022, the Los Angeles native said goodbye to the sport aged 36 at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. After helping USA to mixed 4x400m bronze, Felix ran in the heats of the women's 4x400m relay and collected her 14th gold medal at Worlds. That tally is three more than Usain Bolt who won 14 Worlds medals in total.
Allyson Felix: Seventeen years at the top
Specialising initially in the 200m, Felix was just 19 when she won her first world title in Helsinki in 2005. She retained her 200m title in Osaka two years later, but had to settle for silver on her Olympic debut at Beijing 2008 behind Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown. The youngster did win gold in the women's 4x400m, running the second leg in a comfortable American success.
After completing a hat-trick of 200m world titles in Berlin in 2009, Felix started to split her time between the 200m and 400m. She just missed out on 400m gold at the Daegu 2011 World Championships with Amantle Montsho prevailing by three-hundredths of a second.
At London 2012, Felix won what would prove to be her only individual Olympic title as she beat Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 200m. That was her first of three triumphs in the British capital as she also helped the USA to women's 4x100m and 4x400m relay golds, the former in a new world record.
The Moscow 2013 World Championships resulted in a rare blank for Felix as she pulled a hamstring during the 200m final. The American star returned to action in May 2014 and won the Diamond League 200m title to earn her a bye in that event for the next Worlds.
The schedule for the 2015 Beijing Worlds made it impossible for Felix to double up. Having won the 400m trials at the USA Track and Field Championships, she chose the one-lap event and was rewarded with gold in the Chinese capital.
An ankle injury hampered Felix at the start of the Olympic year. After winning the 400m in a world lead time at the U.S. Olympic Trials, she was only fourth in the 200m meaning she would not defend her title in Rio.
At Rio 2016, Felix was just denied a second individual gold by Shaunae Miller's dive across the line. She won two golds in the relays again, although the USA were initially disqualified from the women's 4x100m relay when Felix dropped the baton. They were reinstated when replays showed Felix had been impeded by a Brazilian's arm and qualifed for the final by running a solo time trial.
At the 2017 World Championships in London, Felix won 400m bronze and another women's relay gold double before taking time out to have a baby. After suffering preeclampsia, she had an emergency C-section to give birth to daughter Camryn in November 2018. The experience prompted Felix to become an advocate for improved maternity care for black women, and call out her sponsors Nike for not guaranteeing salaries to athletes returning from pregnancy.
After returning to action, Felix managed to qualify for the 2019 World Championships but only as part of the 4x400m relay pool. In the first mixed 4x400m world final in Doha, she ran the second leg as USA won in a new world record to secure her a record 12th gold medal at Worlds. After running the heats in the women's 4x400m relay, Felix collected a record 13th gold.
During the pandemic, she focused on qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020 at the age of 35. This time, she was able to qualify in the individual 400m and went on to take bronze behind defending champion Miller-Uibo.
And in a glorious Olympic swansong, Felix ran the second leg as the USA women's 4x400m relay team retained their title with teenage 800m gold medallist Athing Mu running the anchor leg. That took her tally of Olympic medals to 11, one clear of Carl Lewis' previous American track and field record.
"Everyone sees the glory moments, but they don't see what happens behind the scenes.”
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