U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix had jet legs (and jet lag)
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BEIJING -- Since winning the 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials, Allyson Felix has looked nothing like the woman who dazzled the track world at last year’s world championships.
Her times and placings in three European meets went from pedestrian (50.25 to win the 400 in Rome July 11) to mediocre (50.88 while finishing third in Stockholm July 22) to just plain bad (23-flat while finishing fourth in the 200 in London July 25).
Her personal best in the 200 is 21.81; in the 400, 49.70.
Felix, reigning world champion in the 200, said Thursday that it owed only to fatigue.
‘I did run very poorly in London,’’ she said. ‘Thankfully, it wasn’t an injury but a bit of exhaustion. I went back and forth from Europe to the United States a couple times, and I thought I could handle it, but my legs were dead.’’
Felix is reigning world champion and 2004 Olympic silver medalist at 200, the only individual event she will run in the Olympics. She also hopes to run legs on the 400 and 1,600 relays after helping U.S. teams win both at the 2007 worlds.
-- Philip Hersh
