Felix, on the podium, with his tenth Olympic medal.WU HONG / EFE
Elaine Thompson, black hairpiece, green headband, combines the Jamaican flag with the hairpieces of her victorious short relay teammates - Briana Williams and Shelly Ann Fraser, straw yellow August sunset in Tierra de Campos; and, also in black and a green spot, Shericka Jackson—, gets a
full Bolt,
a third gold medal (41.02s the time, 20 hundredths of the United States world record because of some rudimentary witness steps) that They elevate her to the top of the Tokyo medal table, but the penultimate night of the Olympic Stadium belonged to an athlete who did not win, Allyson Felix, and her 10th medal.
The daughter of the shepherd from Santa Clarita (California) is no longer the young girl with the shins of a chicken and the elegance of a feline in her stride who in 2004, at the Athens Games, at age 18, won the silver medal in the 200m. The committed young woman who gave catechesis on Sundays and helped those in need has grown. Her sporting longevity and her tenacity in the fight have made her the great face of North American athletics and an example of commitment.
As an athlete, with the bronze medal in the 400m won by her rival friend Shaunae Miller-Uibo and her Adidas sneakers with golden nails (48.36s, 11 hundredths of the Olympic record of Marie José Pérec in Atlanta 96), the same as He threw himself on the plate in Rio to defeat her, ahead of the Dominican Marileidy Paulino (49.20s), Felix got his tenth medal in the Olympic Games, more than any other athlete in history. From Athens there have been five Games, six gold medals, three silver and one bronze. With nine, the Jamaican Merlene Ottey remains, a participant in seven Games.
She remains.
The others pass and disappear.
Salwa Naser, the one who won the Doha World Cup, was not in Tokyo, suspended for lying in her address for doping controls.
Nor were the Namibians Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, who had the best records of the season, for being banned by the international federation due to their high level of endogenous testosterone.
And even if they had all been, she would have fought.
"And it was tough, a struggle, getting here," he says, "When I was young I never thought it would be difficult to reach a final, but you get old, and it is getting more and more difficult.
It's about being smarter.
It is an experience that makes you feel humble, but it is a reward to see that you can achieve it ”.
More information
Elaine Thompson is the queen of the night at the stadium
The 13 reasons for Allyson Felix, mother and athlete
She is the committed face, the full sportswoman, activist and spokesperson for the fight for equality.
He denounced Nike for its discrimination against pregnant athletes, and managed to get the sports weapons giant to back down, fire executives, change its strategy.
Supported the
Black Lives Matter
campaign
.
I speak.
Fought.
And she brought forward her baby girl, Camryn, born three years ago, premature, at 32 weeks, in a complicated delivery, with caesarean section.
And he returned to athletics stronger even than before.
In the final in Tokyo he achieved the second best time of his life, 49.46s, only 20 hundredths slower than the best, achieved six years ago, at 29, when he won the World Cup in Beijing.
"I have doubted in many moments, I thought that I would not go back to being myself again," she says.
“And little by little I am achieving it.
You have to go day by day, face the races one by one.
I hope that many mothers are reflected in me.
I just want to be an example for everyone, a model ”.
If on Saturday the United States gets a medal in the long relay, of which Felix is a part, the pastor's daughter, Camryn's mother, the most distinguished Olympic athlete (and has 13 World Cup medals), it would get its eleventh medal and surpass the absolute record, 10 of his compatriot Carl Lewis.
And this, generous as always, encouraged her on Twitter to get it: “Congratulations, Allyson.
You were never better than you are now, at 35 years old.
What an extraordinary career, what an example.
Now, for the relief ... "
And Felix, on the podium, laughs happily.
And on the track her stride shines, more beautiful than ever.
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