BEIJING--Allyson Felix’s bid to win the women’s 200 meters will come down to automatic timing and a likely duel against Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell Brown.If style points were awarded, Felix might have a lock on the gold.
Two recent gold medallists are unabashed fans of the 5 ft. 6 in., 122-lb. athlete, who is more fluid grace than power.
Cathy Freeman of Australia, the 400-meter winner in 2000: “She’s my favorite athlete of the moment. There’s an aura about her.
“It’s the way she makes me feel like she’s so happy and so free.
“In a roundabout way, she reminds me of myself when I used to race except I think she’s a better athlete.”
Marie-Jo Perec of France, the 1992 and 1996 400 champion: “When I look at the way she runs, everything seems so easy.
“She’s light. Her technique is perfect. When you look at her after she’s finished racing, it seems like she did not make any effort.
“It is wonderful.
“Then, you look at the time and say, ‘What’s going on here?’
“She’s extraordinary.”
Felix (22.74) and Brown (22.64) swept into Wednesday’s semifinals.
Four years ago, Felix was 18 and fresh off her freshman year at Southern California University.
She finished second in the 200 to Brown, who had a four-year winning streak in the event. The winning margin was 0.13 of a second.
Since then, Felix has taken charge of the 200.
She won the 2005 world title, ending Brown’s winning streak at 42 4aces, and, at last year’s world championships, had the largest victory margin in meet history at 0.53 of a second, with Brown second.
This season, Brown, 26, who went to the University of Arkansas and now trains in Orlando, has been impressive in the 100, though she didn’t make the Jamaican team in the event, and, in the 200, in which she has the year’s best time (21.94).
