No Limits

Allyson Felix is the most successful female athlete in world championship history. As the American gears up for her sixth world champs, she tells Ato Boldon in the latest episode of IAAF Inside Athletics that she's far from done yet.

Eight gold medals, one silver and one bronze from four different events spread over ten years of competition. The only athletes who can match Allyson Felix's World Championship haul of golds are Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt. That’s some company.

Historically, Felix’s most successful event has been the 200m. Aside from the three world titles she has won over the half-lap distance, she also has two Olympic silver medals and claimed gold at London 2012.

But in Beijing it is widely expected that the 30-year-old will tackle the 400m. The quarter-mile distance has given her success in the relays but never individually, though she's come pretty darn close. In Daegu 2011 she finished second to Motswana athlete Amantle Montsho by just 0.03 seconds. Felix says she has learned from that narrow defeat.

“I definitely look back and think ‘man, I learned a lot’,” she tells Ato Boldon. “It was my first time really taking on something like that, and I can honestly say I didn’t know the race very well. Still, it’s a work in progress, of course, but I feel more confident now, more experienced.”

Felix won the 400m at the USATF National Championships in June – her ninth national title – but still clearly wants to crack the distance on the international stage.

“I’ve definitely gained a lot of experience and I don’t want to leave track and field and say ‘man, what if?’. So I think definitely in these latter years I want to go after everything.”

And while she’s going after everything, Felix says she’s made no concrete retirement plans. All she wants to do, she says, is take each year as it comes and continue having fun.

“I’m definitely gonna go for Rio [2016 Olympics] and definitely the year after that. And then I’ll just take it year by year. I think it’s most important for me to see how I’m feeling. If I’m enjoying myself, I’m still passionate, we’ll see.

“I’m still having fun. As long as I’m enjoying myself I feel that there’s still things left that I want to do. To me that’s most important. I don’t want to put any limits on myself.”

In Beijing, Felix has the chance to become the most successful athlete in the history of the world championships. That would be quite the legacy, and the Los Angeles native hopes that she will be looked back on as the ultimate professional.

“[I want to be remembered as] a great competitor. Someone who ran gracefully. […] Took advantage of all my talent and left it all on the track.”

Whatever happens over the next few years, there can be no doubting that her reputation is already secure.

In the full, exclusive interview, Felix also talks about her “insane” training sessions, opens up about her plans for life beyond athletics, and reveals how she became a sneaker fanatic. Watch it below.