“I Let Everybody Down”: US Legend Allyson Felix Reveals Emotional Turmoil of Winning Silver in 2008 Olympics

Allyson Felix has had probably one of the most phenomenal careers for any track and field athlete. Winning 11 Olympic medals and competing in five editions itself is a tremendous honor, which most can just dream of. When we think of such a personality, it’s difficult to even imagine that she could have faced any setbacks. However, despite all her achievements, the track athlete has also experienced her share of lows. According to her, none were as huge as her disappointment in her second Olympics campaign.

Talking to the Mavericks podcast, Allyson Felix was asked what was the biggest failure she had during her career. She was asked to name a certain competition that she was touted to win but couldn’t manage to do so. The athlete’s mind instantly went back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “To me, like a defining moment in my career, the 2008 Olympics, I was the favorite. I was expected to win. I was coming off a silver medal,” said Allyson.

In fact, many had marked her as the favorite for the Olympic gold in that event that year. This is mainly because of her brilliant record over the past few years. She won a silver medal in her first Olympics, which was in Athens, but showed the world what she was capable of. The consecutive gold medals in the World Championships in 2005 made people think of her as the best 200m runner in the world.

However, things did not turn out as she and everyone imagined. Veronica Campbell-Brown, who had also defeated Allyson to the gold in 2004, reclaimed her medal again in Beijing. “Everybody thought I was going to do it. And I got another silver medal for the same exact person. And I was devastated.”

The track star was shocked by her loss and felt as though she had failed people who put their trust in her. “I’m embarrassed, like literally was embarrassed to like show my face because I thought I let everybody down and that whole thing.” However, in the long run, she took positives from that experience and proceeded with her life. She looked at areas where she was supposed to improve to become an even better athlete.

“And so I’m grateful that it went that way because I don’t know if I had the same success if it had come so easily in that moment,” she said. Thus, despite not winning gold in her second campaign in the Olympics, it was a great learning curve for her and helped improve her as an athlete. Later, she finally went on to claim her much-awaited Olympic gold in London in 2012.

But it was her first Olympics at Athens that made her reach the heights she had achieved. Athens ignited in her the want for gold.

Allyson Felix’s first Olympics campaign in Athens

While 2008 was a huge learning experience for Allyson Felix, which might have shaped her as an athlete later in life, the first Olympics campaign she had was in 2004. The track star was only 18 and was already considered a prodigy at that time. But she still felt overwhelmed when she entered the arena. “Like, oh my, like, oh sh*t, I’m actually here. It was overwhelming because, you know, I had just finished high school. Like I was still, I felt like I was still new to the sport,” she said in the same podcast.

Despite this, Allyson Felix managed to drop a brilliant performance as she won the silver medal with a time of 22.18 seconds, setting the junior world record. This moment was so special for the athlete that she decided the track was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. “Like I had never competed on that stage, but it lit. Athens lit the fire for me. That’s when it clicked. That’s when I was like, Oh, I saw one of my really close friends. I saw her win a gold medal. And I was like, Oh, I want to do that.” Thus, the Athens Olympics was the competition that gave Allyson her wings. It was one of the reasons why she had her illustrious track career and is now considered such a legend of the sport.