The life of Allyson Felix

She’s the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete in Olympic history.  This is the story of Allyson Felix.

Transcript

00:00So truly stay at the top of your game for an extended amount of time.

00:04That's what we're all trying to do and it is extremely hard.

00:08I honestly don't really even think about the medal tally or what it means in history.

00:31I always just take each year as a new year and focus on the goals that I set back and

00:36then I figure when my career is done I'll look back and kind of appreciate everything.

01:07I have a passion for kids.

01:10I have a degree in elementary education so anytime I get to be around kids to see them

01:15see some great sports stars too is really cool.

01:29Well for me I really enjoy competing against Veronica.

01:32I think it's a very healthy rivalry and I know when she's in the race I have to be ready

01:38and it's just exciting for me.

01:45To get an individual gold medal would just be so special to me.

01:48It's been a long time that I've been a silver medalist and so to have another opportunity

01:54and for things to come together would be huge.

02:03I guess I had just dreamed about the moment so many times.

02:19When it actually happened I was just overjoyed.

02:22I think we went into it thinking about the Olympic record and when we looked up on the

02:27board and we saw a world record it just blew us away.

02:33It never gets any easier.

02:42Once you reach an elite level it is so hard to stay on top.

02:46Putting in work on days like this where you're exhausted and it's not appreciated because

02:55people expect you to be at the level that you are.

02:58They don't see the hard work that goes in day in and day out.

03:02There's so much that you can do and so many people that you can trust.

03:04I've always believed in myself.

03:05I've been a champion.

03:07She told me that I had a severe case of preeclampsia and that if they didn't act fast, this could

03:34prove fatal.

03:35Ten hours later, I was being taken in for an emergency C-section at 32 weeks.

03:41I kissed my husband goodbye, not knowing what would happen next.

03:45I learned that black women are nearly four times more likely to die from childbirth than

03:49white mothers are in the United States.

04:05But today, I just walked for 30 minutes and it was tough, starting, you know, from the

04:12bottom.

04:13I just had major surgery and trying to like get back and even like the littlest things

04:19are hard.

04:28I want protection around maternity, if not for myself, for people coming after me.

04:33Putting really strict requirements on our returning to competition takes away from our

04:40mothering.

04:41It can jeopardize our health.

05:33I think that's what you learn from sport is to keep fighting, to keep pushing.

05:43And that was really my only option.