Allyson Felix was only 18 when she won the silver medal in the 200 metres in the 2004 Olympics. Whether you count that as a success or a failure, it was certainly quite a start to her career. ‘I had a great experience in Athens. It was amazing. I’ll never forget it. I remember going into the opening ceremony and just remember how many people were there and I think I’ve learned just so much from it and I’ll never forget it.’

Her reaction to the Olympic silver medal says a lot about her: ‘As soon as I finished the race, I wasn’t sure about how to take getting the silver. I think when you go into any race you go into it wanting to win. So it was definitely a little bit of a letdown but then my family quickly put me into perspective and I realize what I had accomplished so it was definitely a success.’

Allyson’s former manager, the hurdling legend Renaldo Nehemiah has a nice phrase to sum her up. ‘I think she did not take herself too seriously. She embraces competition but it does not define her.’ Allyson elaborates, ‘I love competition; I thrive on competition. I think that it’s great to be competitive and to give your all and to be your best and I think that plays right in with being a Christian. I love competing against the best women in the world, but I don’t think that’s all of who I am. It’s only a part of it and I have so much other stuff that I want to accomplish in life and that interests me, as well.’

In the four years since the 2004 Olympics, she has made significant progress. In 2005 she won the 200 metres in the World Championship. In the 2007 World Championships she not only defended her 200 title but added two more golds in the 4 by 100 and 4 by 400 relays. She will go into the 2008 Olympics a firm favourite for more medals. She says of Beijing: ‘I’m definitely looking forward to compete in more events than Athens, hopefully branching out and doing some relays as well. I’m looking forward to the fans and just going back and the opening ceremonies and living in the village and meeting a whole bunch of new people.’

Four years is a long time to work towards that ambition of an Olympic gold medal. Allyson freely admits that there are days when training is not an exciting option! ‘I think I have a lot of motivation in track and field from all kinds of different things. I’m motivated by the competition; I’m motivated by my faith and to always give a 100% and by my family.

‘I definitely have those days when I wake up and I don’t feel like training. What motivates me on those days would be thinking about the Olympics and thinking about winning a gold medal and knowing that all my competitors are waking up and training.’

Having grown up in a Christian family, Allyson has believed from an early age. Her relationship with Jesus Christ is at the centre of everything. ‘I can’t imagine my life without knowing Jesus. I can’t imagine just waking up and going through my life without him so you know he is my life and that’s what I live for. To me, the Gospel message is Jesus being our saviour and dying on the cross for us and we don’t have to be lost, that we can come to him and he can save us and we can follow him and have a purpose in life.’