Wonder Woman of the Week: Allyson Felix

To say this week’s Wonder Woman has charisma would be an understatement. The three time Olympic champion is one of the greatest contemporary athletes in her sport. Outside her sport, this week’s spotlight shines as a flawless role model for any young athlete, especially young girls in track & field. The Wonder Woman of the Week is Allyson Felix.

Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix was born in Los Angeles, California in 1985. Felix showed an early talent for sports when she earned the early nickname “chicken legs” from her youth basketball team. When Felix started high school, she switched to a new sport- track & field. In her freshman year, Felix finished seventh in the state. By her senior year, Felix was the second fastest female sprinter in the state of California. [1]

At only eighteen years old, Allyson Felix qualified for her first Olympic Games. She went from being the second fastest sprinter in California to becoming the second fasted sprinter in the world, earning the silver medal in the 200-meter sprint. Felix’ Olympic record was far from over. She went on to compete in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games earning two medals in 2008 and one in 2012 sporting an overall record of five Olympic medals (three gold and two silver) in three Olympic Games. [2]

Allyson Felix is more than an award winning Olympian. Outside of the Olympics, Felix became the first woman to win three world 200-meter titles and won the Jesse Owens Award (an award given to the track athlete of the year) a record-tying three times. After competing in three Olympic Games, ol’ “chicken legs” trashed the name when she proved she could bench press twice her weight and leg press over seven hundred pounds. [3]

The California native, Allyson Felix, serves on an anti-doping agency making sure Olympic athletes stay clear from performance-enhancing drugs even in the off season; setting a great example for young athletes that there are clear consequences for making poor choices. Even with a personal rival in Jamaica, Felix never fails to show the utmost respect to her opponents on or off the track; setting a perfect example for what it really means to be an Olympian. Felix holds five Olympic medals, and more records that one person can count, but never fails to thank the people- and her faith- for getting her where she is today.

“Allyson Felix Biography.” 2016. Biography.com. Accessed 29 June 2016. http://www.biography.com/people/allyson-felix-20928869

“Allyson Felix.” 2016. Team USA. Accessed 29 June 2016. http://www.teamusa.org/usa-track-and-field/athletes/Allyson-Felix

Student, Joe. “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Olympic Sprinter Allyson Felix.” 26 July 2012. TSM Interactive. Accessed 29 June 2016. http://tsminteractive.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-olympic-sprinter-allyson-felix/