Allyson Felix: The Most Accomplished American Sprinter of All Time

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Allyson Felix is the most decorated American sprinter in history. She won more Olympic medals than any American athlete. Her consistency also saw her win multiple World Championship events. Her parents are Paul Felix, an ordained minister of new testament greek, and Marlean Felix.

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After all the success, she hung her spikes in 2022 and transitioned to operating her shoe company. In this article, we look back on her career in the World Athletics Championships.

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Allyson Felix’s Junior Career

Allyson Felix during the Diamond League meeting in London.
Allyson Felix during the Diamond League meeting in London. Source: Wikimedia licensed by CC-BY-SA-2.0

The American’s career properly kicked off as a freshman in high school. She won the CIF California State Meet five times in a row. Her first international title came in 2001 at the 100 meters. Her long spindly legs saw her being called chicken legs by her high school teammates.

This followed Track & Field News naming her the “High School Athlete of the Year.”  As a senior, she won the US Indoor Track & Field Championship. In 2003, she turned professional and signed a deal with Adidas.

She’s Part of Project Believe, a voluntary drug-testing program, which goes beyond the normal drug testing requirements to protect clean athletes. Besides, she’s a self proclaimed “fashionista” and has attended New York Fashion Week as well as a Member of the President’s Council for fitness, sports and nutrition

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Professional Career

Allyson Felix’s victory at Doha. Source: Instagram

The sprinter enjoyed more success in her pro career. She focused on the 200m and 400m together with relay events. Her unmatched run at the Olympics began in 2004 with a silver medal win in the 200m. 

The following year, she won the gold medal at the World Championships in Helsinki. Four years later, at the Beijing Olympics, Felix won another silver medal in the 200m. Her first Olympic gold medal came at the same event with Team USA in the 4 by 400m relay. 

Before the 2012 Olympics in London, Allyson Felix won seven World Championships gold medals in all her events. In London, she claimed her first and only individual Olympic gold medal in the 200m. In the subsequent events, the runner won a silver and a bronze medal in the 200m and 400m. 

She won three gold medals in London and is only the second American to do so. After, her streak of gold medals at the World Championships continued, winning three more golds before the Rio Olympics. Felix clinched two golds and a silver medal.

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After another successful Olympic Games, the American sprinter won two golds at the World Championships in London before going on maternity leave. She gave birth to her daughter Camryn in November, 2018. She made a comeback in 2019 and picked up from where she left off. Allyson Felix bagged two golds in Donha.

At the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games, the sprinter won a bronze medal in the 400m and a gold in the 4 by 400m relay. This was her last Olympic Games as Allyson Felix retired at the end of the 2022 season. 

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Net Worth

Allyson Felix draped in an American flag. Source: Instagram

Allyson Felix has earned a significant amount of money throughout her career. She reportedly has a net worth of $4.5 million. She’s largely generated this from her athletics career. Her victories have largely contributed to the growth of her net worth

An Olympic gold medalist earns around $37500, so with the seven golds, you can see how it’s contributed to her net worth. Additionally, the former sprinter earned through endorsements with brands like Nike and Gap’s Athleta.

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Controversy with Nike

In 2019, Allyson Felix wrote an OP-ED in the New York Times in which she reported that Nike paid her 70% less during her pregnancy. 

She spoke out to protect other women in sports and highlight the challenges sportswomen face when they decide to be mothers. This led Nike to include protection clauses for pregnant female athletes. 

As a result, the Olympian ditched Nike and founded her shoe-wear company, Saysh, to challenge industry norms. 

Allyson Felix is no longer in the sport but the impact she left still resonates. She showed that sportswomen are more than just athletes and yearn for different things outside their sport. This athlete has a secret talent. She is good in baking cinnamon rolls and German chocolate cake.

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