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World Championships in Athletics: Dramatic experience changed Allyson Felix’s view of life

AWhen those in charge of the World Athletics Federation fixed the schedule for the World Championships a year ago, they could not have known that they would land a coup for the opening day. The committee had agreed on just one decision for the title fights beginning this Friday in Eugene (US state of Oregon).

It stipulated that only the mixed relays over 4 x 400 meters should run for medals at the start at Bill Hayward Field. But now that the American association has nominated its team, everyone is rubbing their hands. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, with Allyson Felix, 36, leading the host quartet. The Californian is not only the megastar of her sport. All eyes will also be on her because her performance in front of a home crowd will be the last in her unprecedentedly successful career.

“This planning is a real precision landing,” says Sebastian Coe WELT AM SONNTAG, also visibly pleased. “There couldn’t be a more emotional highlight, a showdown with more goosebumps on the first day of the championships,” continues the 65-year-old President of the world association World Athletics and gets really excited when Allyson Felix’s name is mentioned: “Allyson isn’t just an exceptional athlete, but also an exceptional woman. She is an idol beyond sport. It is very difficult to put into words what Allyson has done and continues to do in and out of the arenas.”

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With numbers, however. No athlete of her guild embodies more numerical superlatives than the sprinter from the West Coast. When Allyson Felix does her final lap at Eugene’s stadium, named after the university’s legendary coaching guru, it will be her tenth World Championships – nobody but her has competed in these spectacular events as often since they premiered in Helsinki 39 years ago. With a total of 13 titles and 18 medals, the specialist over 200 and 400 meters is also the lone leader. The same applies to their Olympic merits. She has seven Olympic victories in five participations since 2004, plus three silver plaques and one bronze.

end of career? Her social commitment made her rethink

It is easy to imagine that there will be a crowning farewell for Allyson Felix with shiny gold precious metal. Like three years ago in Doha at the World Cup debut of the mixed relay, the Stars and Stripes team is the favorite among betting providers. The world record of 3:09.34 minutes set in Qatar’s capital still stands. Allyson Felix ran in second place, this time, it is rumored, she should lead the team to victory as the last runner. It would be the ultimate production, greetings from Hollywood not far away.

Allyson Felix with daughter Camryn Ferguson in July 2020

Allyson Felix with daughter Camryn Ferguson in July 2020

Quelle: pa/Newscom/Image of Sport

It was not a matter of course that the long-standing master student of the famous Bob Kersee, who has trained more than a dozen Olympic champions, would once again qualify for global title fights. She originally wanted to end her career after winning the women’s 4 x 400m relay at the Tokyo Summer Games last year so that she could devote more time to her family – daughter Camry is three years old. However, her social commitment made her rethink.

After all, according to her reasoning, there is no more suitable platform than her own competition stage to promote her current aid project. Which she did two days before the national World Cup eliminations, which also took place in Eugene from June 23rd to 26th, in the ballroom of a local hotel. With her main sponsor, clothing company Athleta, she announced her new partnership with &Mother, a non-profit organization with which she aims to offer free childcare at select events to her peers.

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“For women who have children to look after, it is still difficult to compete at the highest level. Our aim is that women no longer have to choose between career and family in the future. We want to make a significant contribution to this,” emphasized the grande dame of athletics when presenting her project. Felix combines her mission with the hope that “this service will help raise awareness of the need for a better childcare system, both in sport and beyond. That is very important to me. That’s why I continued for one more season.”

Support mothers in top-class sport – from my own experience

At the same time, with the charity Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by tennis player Billie Jean King, she offered a five-figure dollar amount as a childcare grant to support top female athletes.

Among the well-known beneficiaries was Elana Meyers Taylor, 37. The bobsleigh pilot gave birth to a son two years ago and, thanks to the financial support, was able to optimally prepare for the Winter Games in Beijing in February. In the Far East, the sports psychologist won her fourth and fifth Olympic medals, coming second in mono and third in two-man bobsleigh. “Without the financial help, it would certainly not have gone so well,” said Felix’ compatriot WELT AM SONNTAG. “It made looking after my boy a lot easier for me.”

Felix at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene in June this year

Felix at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene in June this year

Quelle: Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey

Allyson Felix received the initial impetus for her most recent activity from Billie Jean King, 77. The avant-garde in the fight for equal rights, who had come out as homosexual while still active, encouraged her to make her idea of ​​childcare a reality. If she is successful, King suggested, she could expand her concept to other sports and industries.

When Allyson Felix spoke to the 12-time Grand Slam winner, she had to think back to a training session a few years ago. At the time, her running partner was having extreme difficulty finding someone to babysit her one-year-old daughter. During the training session, other athletes or supervisors took turns looking after the girl. “When we evaluated our training in the video, you could hear the little child crying,” Allyson Felix recalls with melancholy the situation that made her very thoughtful.

She had similar experiences after the complicated birth of her Camry. Especially in the first year, she had many sleepless nights so that she could continue to reconcile top-class sport and family happiness without a guilty conscience. She often had to book an extra hotel room to have her mother by her side so that she could take care of the little one. Nevertheless, she did without the necessary training units because not everything could always be organized as desired. Especially since Camry needed special attention after her problematic delivery.

Their daughter weighed just over three pounds

Allyson Felix was 32 weeks pregnant when the doctor rushed her to the hospital on November 28, 2018 after a routine check-up. She had told the doctor about her swollen feet, after which he arranged for emergency surgery. The deformed limbs are an indication of pre-eclampsia, a form of pregnancy poisoning that can be life-threatening for both mother and child. Her “Cammy” saw the light of day two months too early after a Caesarean section. Weighing just over three pounds, she had to be observed in intensive care for another four weeks before Allyson and her husband, Kenneth Ferguson, were allowed to take her home.

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couple enjoying in a healthy lifestyle while jogging on a country road

The dramatic experience changed Allyson Felix’s perspective on life. The hitherto kind and rather taciturn athlete, who never wanted to offend with her opinion, started researching and was shocked to discover that preeclampsia is 60 percent more common in black women than in white women. “It sparked a fire in me to learn more about sharing my story and being an advocate for all moms,” she told USA Today magazine.

In Washington, she spoke before the US Congress in the guise of a women’s rights activist and called for “more support for black women during their pregnancy”. The US, she reproaches politicians, is “a dangerous place for black women to give birth. It shouldn’t be.” Research shows that “there is a race bias in the healthcare system.” Doctors devote less time to black women, underestimating their pain, ignoring symptoms or signs.

Mother? The discrediting attitude of their former sponsor

Her long-time outfitter Nike had previously caused a lot of displeasure. When the contract was extended during pregnancy, he presented her with a 70 percent lesser contract. The reason: anyone who has a baby cannot provide the same services and is therefore less valuable as an advertising face. Although the sporting goods giant reversed its discrediting stance after a wave of outrage, Allyson Felix backed away from him.

Today she is her own shoe sponsor. She founded the Saysh brand with her brother Wes twelve months ago. The label stands for “hope, acceptance and embodies the power to create change,” explained the young entrepreneur, who was included in “Time” magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2020 and 2021. Her credo is: Anyone who sees her sprinting in her shoes should know that she is not just about medals, but about more justice for everyone. You run for a better future.

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Allyson Felix

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