Felix seals Rio Games berth at US track and field trials
Allyson Felix runs to victory ahead of Natasha Hastings in the Women's 400 Meters Final during the 2016 US Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on July 3, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The 30-year-old from Los Angeles is aiming to become only the third woman after Valerie Brisco-Hooks of the US in 1984 and Marie-Jose Perec of France in 1996 to have won the 200m and 400m in the same Games.
- Felix's hopes of completing the double were left in peril after a freak training accident in April, when she dropped onto a medicine ball during a gym session and tore ligaments in her right ankle.
- Felix, the reigning Olympic 200m champion and 400m world champion, is also targeting golds in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
EUGENE, United States
Allyson Felix's quest for a piece of Olympic history remains intact after she emerged from two months of injury hell to produce one of the greatest runs of her life at the US track and field trials.
The 30-year-old from Los Angeles has set her sights on the notoriously difficult double of 400 meters and 200 meters at next month's games in Rio de Janeiro, a feat only two women have achieved before.
Felix's hopes of completing the double were left in peril after a freak training accident in April, when she dropped onto a medicine ball during a gym session and tore ligaments in her right ankle.
The injury left her unable to walk properly, severely disrupting her preparations for the Olympics and sweating on her fitness heading into the US trials at Hayward Field in Oregon.
Yet after unconvincing performances in the opening rounds of the 400m, Felix surged to victory on Sunday with the fastest time in the world this year, 49.68 seconds, to book her ticket to Brazil.
Felix's veteran coach Bobby Kersee later described the win, which saw her surge from fifth to first in the home stretch, as the four-time Olympic gold medallist's greatest ever performance.
"I trust Bobby," Felix said when informed of her coach's remarks.
"It wasn't my most fun but it was one that means so much because it just seemed like things were hitting me left and right," she added.
"Two months ago I couldn't even walk. To be here and have everything still come together, I don't quite know how it happened. I just know that I have this amazing team of people who didn't let me face it alone."
TARGETTING GOLDS
As well as her injury, Felix also had to deal with the death of her beloved bet dog Chloe.
"Everything was coming at me," she said. "It's a big year. I set out with the 200 and 400 in mind and it just seemed like nothing was going my way. To me that's why it means so much."
Felix, the reigning Olympic 200m champion and 400m world champion, is also targeting golds in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
If successful in all four events she would join Fanny Blankers-Koen as the only woman to have won four athletics gold medals at one Olympics.
Felix will now aim to clinch qualification in the 200m later this week before turning her attention to Rio.
"I definitely feel like I can train more and get healthier. It was all about making the team and taking it from there," she said.
Kersee meanwhile believes Felix will go down as one of the greats of track and field.
"I've always believed the 400 is her best race," he said. "This is my 11th Olympic Trials, and she's one of the best of all time.
"She really wants to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. She believes in the red, white and blue."
