The scene was set for Allyson Felix to dash off into the sunset with a win, capping one of the great careers in American track and field history.
Felix, who won 20 gold medals in Olympics and world championship competitions over nearly two decades as a professional sprinter, took to the track at the world championships at the University of Oregon Friday for one last race before calling it a career.
She ran the second leg of the mixed 4 by 400-meter relay and while the team led at times during the race, the sports gods refused to play along, as Felix and her teammates finished third.
So, while Felix didn’t close with a win, she finished her career on the medal podium collecting a 19th medal in her eighth world championship, both records.
That her three-year-old daughter Camryn watched Felix’s swan song from the stands placed a perfect coda on the moment. After the race, Felix said quote It’s being a representation for women, mothers, and I really felt that. It was an emotional day. I felt it all over from people telling me and messages. I feel really proud tonight. I feel fulfilled unquote.
As well she should. While her speed brought her notoriety on the asphalt and rubber, or at least as much as a female track performer can get here in the U.S., Allyson Felix’s lasting impact on sports will be felt well past her retirement.
Because of a severe case of pre-eclampsia, Felix had to deliver Camryn via C-section after only 32 weeks. The infant fought for her life in a neo-natal intensive care unit.
As Camryn grew and flourished, Felix, by then, a decorated athlete in her 30s, attempted to reclaim her spot atop the heap, a challenge made more complicated by the decision of her sponsor, Nike, to cut her pay. Felix balked, dropping Nike, but not before shaming the apparel giant for its shoddy treatment of mothers who compete. She started her own shoe brand to appeal to women athletes and got financial backing from companies like the Gap. And she made a triumphant return to the track, winning a bronze medal in the 400 last summer in Tokyo at the Olympics. Felix announced her retirement three months ago, wrapping up her brilliant career Friday with the bronze in the relay.
All totaled, Felix leaves track with 30 medals in competition at the highest level and with the respect and admiration of fellow female athletes like basketball players Candace Parker and Sandrine Gruda.
Gruda and Parker are contemporaries of Felix, and Parker is a mom who competes, too, having led her Chicago Sky team to a WNBA championship last year. They know firsthand the sacrifices Felix has made for the good of all athletes, not just women. Just after she crossed the finish line for the last time, Allyson Felix posted to Instagram a line often spoken at the end of a relationship: Don’t be sad it’s over. Be happy it happened.
There are millions around the nation and the world for whom both parts are true, more former than latter.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on Twitter at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.
