- See Less -For then high school senior Allyson Felix, the prom could take a back seat to qualifying for her high school state track and field meet. Felix ran her way through her California high school and straight into signing a professional contract with Adidas that provided for her college education at USC. She majored in elementary education.
Her unsuiting nickname, “Chicken Legs,” followed her through her awkward ninth grade track try-outs and all the way to 2007, where she is the second female athlete to win three gold medals at a single IAAF World Championship in Athletics.
The 200m-sprinter earned a silver medal in her event at the 2004 Summer Olympics – at the ripe old age of 18. Her medal came with a silver lining: a new 200m World Junior record, with a time of 22.18. Felix became the youngest gold medallist sprinter in the 200m at the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005, and she went on to defend that title in 2007 in Osaka.
Some of Felix’s best times include: 11.01s in the 100m; 21.81s in the 200m; 36.33 in the 300 m; and 49.70 in the 400m.
With the help from coach Bobby Kersee, the husband and coach of Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Felix says her next goal is not a world record, but a gold medal in Beijing.
Well done. You did it with class, grace and style.