Allyson Felix ran her last big race in Eugene. The most successful World Cup athlete in history said goodbye to the big stage with bronze. A tribute from ARD athletics expert Frank Busemann.
29 international medals. Global. That’s a pound. You need three lockers at the bank for that. Or because of the inflationary creation of new superlatives, the things are given to the children to play with. You’ve had enough. Or rather: women have had enough.
Eugene is also the Allyson Felix farewell show. In 2004 she won an Olympic silver medal for the first time. A year later she became world champion for the first time. After that, she became the most successful World Cup participant. The Michael Phelps of the Stadium Round.
At some point, the outfitter cut her covers due to her pregnancy. A scandal in her opinion. I also! Who else is going to bring the children into the world? The guys maybe? Better not, they wouldn’t stand it. So she walks through the world in the lactate bath, has children and raises her voice. Takes on business giants, testifies before the US Congress to highlight the grievances of black women, creates her own shoe brand and defines herself beyond her career. The epitome of success and daring. Otherwise she would not voluntarily have the 400 meters on her list.
Gold would have been Hollywood
Now she goes. In Eugene. In the USA’s 4x400m mixed relay, she was allowed to wear the jersey with stars and stripes one last time. It was done somehow. The audience celebrated her. A little. But the drums and trumpets had been locked away in the stadium’s tool shed. Because she ran in second place, it went under and decency demanded that all nations be treated equally.
At a meeting, she would have been driven in and out of the convertible. But here was the World Cup. And that was the problem. The organizer couldn’t buy any cannon fodder, who did a bit of rambazamba with Felix again. They did it for themselves and mercilessly cashed in on the US girls. Bronze jumped out again at the end. Gold would have been Hollywood, the career is still felixional.
Medal number 30 as a reward
But it had to be, it should be. With Allyson Felix, the great lady of athletics is leaving. She never seemed to be loud, always had a smile on her face and impressed with her performance over a long period of time. That’s what made them so mass-compatible and popular. The spectators would of course have given her the gold medal, but the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands knew how to prevent so much pathos. She would not have wanted a medal as a gift either. She was far too much of a fighter for that. And was rewarded with medal number 30 at the end. Goodbye Allyson.