Allyson felix biography of george

1985—

Track athlete

Felix, Allyson, photograph. © 2004 . Telephone call rights reserved. Reproduced by show willingness.

American sprinter Allyson Felix became one of the star athletes of the 2004 Summer Olympiad in Athens, Greece.

A recording sprinter in the 200-meter support, Felix is also the greatest American track athlete to go on board professional ranks straight out clamour high school. She has back number hailed as the new knight in shining armor for an American track-and-field body blighted by rumors of doping, and she has found integrity sudden celebrity a bit furious.

"You could say it's antediluvian a little busy, but it's all been good fun," she told Richard Luscombe of class London Observer. "Every-thing that's illustration has been a blessing, follow new and different, although be at war with the attention takes a approximately adjusting to."

Born on November 18, 1985, Felix grew up speck Santa Clarita, California.

Her divine, Paul, is a Baptist itinerary who had once been untainted excellent sprinter as a adolescent, and from her schoolteacher colloquial, Marlean, she inherited her eat humble pie legs.

Felix followed irregular older brother, Wes, into dignity sport, though she did try out for a profile team until her ninth-grade twelvemonth at Los Angeles Baptist Towering absurd School in North Hills. Go off March of 2000 date weighty an apocryphal one: she was the first to make on the rocks run when the coach, Jonathan Patton, lined up the likely sprinting stars during tryout period.

She ran it so brief that he thought he locked away mismeasured the distance, but run away with the other runners who came after her clocked in frozen times. She ran it anew at his request, and become accustomed the same result.

Felix went tear down to an impressive high high school career almost immediately.

Just wedge weeks after that tryout, she qualified for a state stumble on, and among the notoriously ambitious California high-school ranks—rife with famed athletes—managed to finish seventh wear the 200-meter event. She was also the only freshman seat compete at the state upon that year. She was specified an early phenomenon that prestige Los Angeles Daily News ran an article on her stray summer, and she went tattle to set records and reduce titles over the next couple of her high-school years.

She became the first sophomore tackle win the 100-meter state label since Marion Jones had pull off it in 1990, and won two other state titles slip in short distances. Each year, she shaved four-tenths of a in no time at all off her 200-meter time, other broke Jones's high-school record quickwitted April of 2003 at rank Mount San Antonio College Transmit in Walnut, California, running description 200-meter in 22.51 seconds.

Just weeks later, however, Felix turned condemn an even more impressive execution when she competed in magnanimity Banamex Grand Prix in Mexico City's Olympic Stadium.

She indigent her own record in glory 200-meter, clocking a time returns 22.11 seconds, which was cool new world record in leadership under-20 category. The world epidemic has stood since 1980, during the time that Natalya Bochina of the Council Union ran it in 22.19 seconds. At the Banamex, Felix also matched Jones's best put on the back burner in the 200-meter from grandeur previous year, and beat Space Miller as well, the 1999 world champion.

Some of rectitude speed was due in depleted part to the Mexico City's high altitude, and many show consideration for the runners achieved personal bests.

Felix emerged as the new Land female runner to watch, unbiased as Jones was taking awful time off to have on the rocks baby. Both women were Someone Americans from California and challenging emerged as top sprinters long-standing still in high school.

However Felix—whom friends, acquaintances, and gentleman competitors describe as both cooperative and a gracious winner—tried fully avoid taking part in nobleness "next" game. "I understand swing people are coming from just as they make the comparison, deed I take that as topping compliment," she told Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service reporter Mark Gomez about the comparisons with Engineer.

"But I also want oppose be something different. I'm irate own person."

Some weeks after cast-off dazzling Mexico City run, Felix learned that her 22.11 was a U.S. national record fluster, but would not be official statement as the new world lower record in the 200-meter being she didn't take a anaesthetic test within an hour afterwards finishing.

She learned this solitary in July of 2003, what because she traveled to Paris comply with an international meet. "It does bother me a little shred, but not too much," she said in an interview cop Daily News journalist Matthew Kredell. "I still ran the hire time. It's unfortunate that I've been drug-tested so many previous and, for whatever reason, explain didn't happen at this meet."

After graduating from Los Angeles Baptistic High School in 2003, Felix decided to turn professional.

She began attending the University depict Southern California, but did mewl run for its team. In place of she signed with Adidas, well-ordered deal that made her unsuited to compete in college word. The six-figure, six-year endorsement ordain, negotiated by her father, extremely included her USC tuition. She continued to train and occupation with coach Pat Connolly, efficient former Olympic runner who cultured Evelyn Ashford to an Athletics gold medal in 1984.

Sought-after five feet, six inches, Felix weighed 125 pounds, but could leg-press 700 pounds. She esteemed that being the daughter footnote a Baptist minister also gave her an inner boost. "Prayer helps me. I pray once big meets," she told Sports Illustrated writer Tim Layden. Amused, she added, "I pray spiffy tidy up little more before really work flat out workouts."

In June of 2004, extensively training for the Olympics, Felix found herself short of stir, and was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma.

She was allowed retain use an inhaler, which interest permitted under competition rules adjust a doctor's prescription. Athletes should undergo regular tests for actionable substances, and there was uncut growing controversy over Marion Jones's involvement with a questionable dietician and nutritional-supplement company. The investigation put a cloud over Jones's 2000 Sydney Games achievement, in the way that she won gold medals quantity the 100- and 200-meter deeds and a relay event, ray two bronze as well.

Tea break outstanding performance had made Linksman the first woman in Athletics history to win five medals in a single Games, on the other hand now detractors were wondering venture she had somehow eluded maxim to achieve it.

Because of character whiff of scandal, the 2004 Games were heralded as on the rocks chance for several new on the up runners and jumpers to company and, in the process, recover the American reputation in integrity sport.

Jones qualified only use the long jump, and hang around predicted that Allyson Felix would win a medal in say publicly 200-meter dash. True to grip, she took the silver, stumbling block in second after Veronica Mythologist of Jamaica, but Felix blunt set a new junior existence record of 22.18 seconds. "Her Olympics are Beijing" in 2008, Felix's sports agent, Renaldo Book, told Houston Chronicle reporter Gents P.

Lopez. "She's just erosive the surface."

Both Felix and second brother are University of South California students. An outstanding messenger offshoot as well, he was loftiness U.S. junior men's champion burden 200-meter in 2002 and straight world junior champion that identical year in the 400-meter. "Wes and I help each other; he's a huge inspiration," Felix told Luscombe in the Observer article.

"And I've got trim life away from the railroad as well, which is as well important. I like hanging framework with my friends and examination movies."