Loading Text-to-Speech…
“Life begins at 40” said Lena Vlachopoulou in the video of the same name, and Alison Felix said she was ready to prove that championship can start again at this age.
The “golden girl” of American sprints retired from active action in 2022, but the Olympic Games in her native country appear to be a lure to get back on the sidelines. “Perhaps at this age they expected me to stay at home and raise my children. Let’s turn it around,” said the mother of 7-year-old Camryn and 2-year-old Trey.
Alison Felix is considered one of the most successful athletes in the history of world sports. Now, in order to get into the desired racing condition and claim her dream, she is determined to enlist the help of science and technology.
“When I was competing in Olympic events, I used to hear this nice noise that the fans made for the athletes of the host country. I would like to experience this. I probably wouldn’t feel good about myself if I didn’t try. No matter how this effort develops, I will be in Los Angeles with my children and I will cheer everyone on,” the owner of 11 Olympic medals (7-3-1) and 20 world medals (14-3-3) emphasized to “Time”.
During her career, the sprinter was named the United States of America champion ten times. He has been included in the list of “Time” magazine’s most influential people for 2020 and 2021, while in July 2024 he was ranked 63rd in ESPN’s list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 21st century. Her father is a priest and professor of Old Testament, and she has described her ability to run as a “gift from God.” Her brother, Wes, was a sprinter and then became a spokesperson for his famous sister. In fact, according to “Time”, Wes was the first to learn of Felix’s plans and was impressed as “I expected to hear a million things but not this”. Her venture is titled ‘Project six’ because this will be the 6th Olympic event in her sporting journey.
“A living experiment in human potential”
Alison Felix knows very well that her quest to be among the best sprinters in the world at the age of 42 will not be easy. Marley Oti has achieved this, when at the Athens Olympic Games, at the age of 44, she reached the semi-finals, while at the age of 52 she took part in the European championship in the 4X100. On the men’s side, the oldest sprinter to compete in an Olympic event is Kim Collins and, in fact, achieved his best performance just after 40.
In recent years, however, sportsmen and women such as LeBron James, Lindsay Vonn et al. have proven that championships at an old age are possible even for sports that require alertness, speed, etc. Felix, according to what she has stated in the past, was also afraid to use vitamins in case they contain some of the substances that are included in the prohibited ones of the World Anti-Doping Organization. This time, however, the champion is determined to “explore” all legal possibilities to achieve her dream. She will use techniques, the help of technology and medical science while sharing her efforts with the public through her website.
The American has her own sportswear company and, in fact, after a dispute with a top company in her country, she became the first athlete in the history of athletics to win Olympic medals wearing her own shoes.
Athletics fans will not see her many times in the next two years at the competition grounds because she has decided to take part only in the necessary competitions in order to spend as many hours as possible next to her children. She will return to training next October and will be in the “hunt” for qualification from 2027. She knows very well that the US Olympic sprint team has some of the best sprinters in the world and to claim a place among them she will need excellent performances.
