(ATR) Allyson Felix is most accustomed to chasing double victory in two events on the track, however her latest double was with an entirely new twist.
Felix, a six-time Olympic track and field gold medalist from Los Angeles, blazed to the fastest 400 meters in the world this year on Sunday in London and then on Tuesday in Lausanne took the baton making a contribution to the L.A. 2024 bid team.
At the London Diamond League meet, her first of the season, Felix led a U.S. 1-2-3 sweep. In Lausanne, she bolstered the star power of the 11-member Los Angeles delegation during the city’s presentation to the IOC.
"It’s something that is really important to me and wanted to make it a priority to make time for it," Felix said, about joining the L.A. 2024 team. "It’s really easy when it’s something you’re so passionate about."
As the most decorated woman in U.S. Track and Field history, Felix helped her hometown win the right to host either the 2024 or 2028 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee voted unanimously in approval of a double allocation of the next two Summer Games on Tuesday in Lausanne.
Felix was the only active athlete in Lausanne in the line-up of the Los Angeles and Paris bid teams. Her fellow U.S. sprinter, Michael Johnson also assisted LA 2024 in the Olympic Capital.
"It was a brand new experience – kind of a whole different world being on this side of things," Felix said, about helping L.A. 2024 bring the Games back to southern California for the first time since 1984.
"As an athlete you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you do forget that there is a whole process that makes this happen. It was kind of neat to be introduced to that and see the inner workings."
Felix, a 13-time world championship medalist dating to Helsinki 2005, seeks to add more hardware to her collection at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London next month.
"I feel good with where I’m at right now with one more really heavy training period to go through," Felix said. "I’ll have training camps in Monaco and Birmingham too and then get to it at the world championships."
Conveniently, after her participation in the Los Angeles 2024 presentation and news conference at the SwissTech Convention Center, Felix darted off to the Lausanne track, which annually holds the Olympic capital’s Athletissima Diamond League meet, for a bit of training.
Felix’s effort over the past few days was a well-executed double no doubt.
Reported by Brian Pinelliin Lausanne.
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