To his superb collection of Olympic medals (seven in gold, three in silver, one in bronze), including two at the Tokyo Games, are added the 18 gleaned (thirteen in gold, three in silver and two in bronze) at the Worlds.

An unequaled track record which gives her a place that is all the more unique as she has continued to win as a mother, a rarity in professional sport, all disciplines combined.

In November 2018, Allyson Felix indeed gave birth to her daughter Camryn in complicated conditions, after only 32 weeks of pregnancy.

After which her child had to stay almost a month in neonatal care.

Although happy, this event was seen as the beginning of the end by Nike, its long-time equipment supplier, whose policy towards pregnant athletes she did not hesitate to criticize when she saw that the fees in her contract had been reduced by 70% during her pregnancy.

American sprinter Allyson Felix, bronze medalist in the 400m, at the Tokyo Olympics, August 6, 2021 Ina FASSBENDER AFP / Archives

Silence broken

"When we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during and after pregnancy. This is one of the examples that proves that the sports industry is still run by and for men" , she wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times.

Enough to bend the brand to the comma, which swore that no pregnant professional sportswoman would be financially penalized.

For the first time in her career, the one who saw herself above all as a sprinter, one of whose basic principles is precisely to stay in her lane, and therefore only displayed a big smile in almost all circumstances, given voice.

Allyson Felix during the 4x400m relay won by the Americans, at the Tokyo Olympics, August 7, 2021 Javier SORIANO AFP

This episode "helped me to understand what was important and to realize that I could not remain silent any longer. I never expected to face challenges while giving birth. Before, I was so focused on my performance that I "It was scary for me to talk about other issues. But I finally feel like I have something to add to the conversation," she told the Washington Post in 2019, for her return to competition at the selections Americans for the Doha Worlds.

If she failed to qualify for the individual events there, she made the trip to Qatar and not for nothing, since she came back crowned in the women's and mixed 4x400m relays.

"Deceptive Fragility"

Proof that his legs, which early earned him the nickname "Chicken legs" for their finesse, and his ample, fluid, incomparable stride, could still work wonders.

Slender (1.68 m, 57 kg), she is "misleadingly fragile, because she has an exceptional weight/power ratio", underlines her trainer Bob Kersee.

These athletic qualities, Allyson Felix, brought up in a religious atmosphere - her father Paul, a pastor of French Creole origin, teaches the New Testament -, attributes them to the "Creator": "my faith is the reason why I run. I I really feel like I have this amazing gift that God has given me, and it's about using it to the best of my ability."

What she did from the age of 18, winning the silver medal in the 200m at the Athens Games, with the key to a new world junior record.

If her domination was effective at the Worlds, especially in 2007 in Osaka where she lived "a great moment, as if in a state of grace" after her triple 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m, she had to wait for London-2012 to glean her first individual Olympic gold medal on the half lap.

American Allyson Felix poses with her silver medal won in the 200m at the Athens Olympics in 2004 TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA AFP/Archives

Her excellence at the highest level took her to the Tokyo Games, after a global pandemic due to the coronavirus which forced her to adapt in her preparation and to train even on the streets, for lack of installation. open, like Sylvester Stallone running on the steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the "Rocky".

"I'm used to fighting. That's what I just keep doing," she sums up.

© 2022 AFP