Resilience. Determination. Humility. Grace. Yes, excellence, but not dominance or flamboyance or any other characteristic often associated with the fastest people in the world. Allyson Felix was the most decorated woman in Olympic track history, but it wasn't her eye-popping times. It was her performance in her last individual Olympic race as she chased an athlete much younger than herself.ResultsIt is an incredible feat that Felix made it to the finals of the 400-meter race in Tokyo on Friday night. Felix, 35, is in her fifth Olympics. She was two years removed form pregnancy complications that could have resulted in the death of her or her daughter Camryn. She stands 5'6 and weighs in at 126 lbs. Her age had forced her to move up from the 200, her most prestigious event, to the 400. Felix was the slowest of the eight women who waited in the starting blocks on Friday.Felix started in lane 9, but Jodie Williams from Great Britain caught Felix halfway through the race in lane 8. Felix and Williams were separated by one step at the turn. Shaunae Miller Uibo was ahead of them. Miller-Uibo, 27, is a muscular, 6-foot-1, 152-pound woman with strides that seem to be long enough for her to reach Tokyo from her native Bahamas. Five years ago, Miller-Uibo was forced to jump across the finish line at Rio Olympics to take gold from Felix. It took seven-hundredthsof a second. Felix has suffered more Olympic heartbreak than she can count.In Tokyo, there was no reason to dive. Miller-Uibo jumped ahead on the home stretch, destroying the rest of the field and winning gold in 48.36 seconds. Felix continued to push in the outside lane, determined to make history. With 50 meters remaining, she was overtaken in third place by Stephanie-Ann McPherson from Jamaica. Felix looked set to succumb. She would be denied an individual achievement and would once again need to find solace in relays.The race within the race is one of the most beautiful aspects about track racing. It's an individual sport at its best, with athletes competing against each other and deciding victory or defeat according to their own terms and times. Felix wasn't running against Miller-Uibo, but that day was over. Felix's life and purpose is defined by something more than gold. Felix sprinted to the bronze medal in the final 20 meters of her solo performance with a speedy sprint that took 49.46 seconds."I feel like I've come a long ways from the previous Games. Felix commented that this one was "just different." It sounds cliché, but it is really more than me running out there. I don't get too caught up in getting more medals. For me, the most important thing was getting back."In 2018, Felix gave birth her daughter Camryn to Felix. AP Photo/Ashley Landis"Earlier today, I looked through some videos of things we had taped while I was in hospital and on the comeback trails -- those really, really difficult moments -- and that's where I tried to tap into.""Of course I run for gold but I just wanted joy regardless of what happens tonight."Felix has won ten Olympic medals, more than any female track athlete, and more than Merlene Ottey from Jamaica. She tied Carl Lewis for the record for most American runners with the bronze, and will likely surpass him Saturday in 400-meter relay. She set the current world record for 4x100 relays of 40.82 seconds. Felix is the most decorated athlete of all time, with 13 gold medals and 18 total medals at the world championships. She is the only woman to have won six Olympic golds.Five of the Olympic golds were won in relays. Her personal best in the 200 was 21.69. None of her individual marks are even close to that. Felix was a charter member in the Project Believe voluntary drug-testing alliance. A large number of women listed before her were found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. Felix's career was influenced by Jamaica's dominance of sprinting. She ran bravely against Elaine Thompson, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell Brown. Felix faced women of greater size and speed than Felix for many races.She lost a lot of money at one time in her career. Felix is humble and God-centered, but she also has a competitive streak. She has spoken out publicly about her desire to trade multiple world championship titles in exchange for one of the rare Olympic golds. She said that she didn't want to be content with losing.The equation was different in Tokyo. Camryn was her prematurely born at 3 pounds 8 ounces. To encourage women to give up their careers and bodies in order to be mothers. To prove that Nike was wrong in cutting her compensation by 70% after she gave birth and to show that Saysh was right to start her own brand. She wore Saysh's shoes Friday. After preeclampsia at 35 and an emergency C-section which left her unable walkable, she was able to run the Olympic final in.25 seconds.Felix won her first Olympic medal, a silver in 200m -- in Athens, in 2004. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images"I don't fear losing. Felix shared his Instagram post hours before the race, saying that he lost more than he won. "That's the way it is and that's what life should be. I've discovered that I learn more from my mistakes than I do from my successes and that the journey towards a goal has more value for me than just achieving it. I'm afraid to let people down. Of letting myself down. I have high standards, and as I sit here tonight before the final individual Olympic final, I realize that my performances are a major part of my worth. I'm... But for now, I have decided to let that fear go.""I am not sharing this note to myself. It's for all other athletes who define themselves by their medal counts. This is for all women who define their worth by how many medals they have. It's for everyone who believes that people you admire on TV are different from you. You are more than enough. Let go of the expectations placed on you by others. There is freedom beyond your fear. You are worthy of your dreams, so get out there and be courageous.Felix dreamed of gold when she made her Olympic debut in the age 18 event. She now dreams of helping others as she helped many teammates win relays at the track. She hopes to eliminate racial disparities within maternal care and ensure that women athletes are treated equally.Felix has many more races to run. At the 2022 world championships in Hayward Field, Oregon, Felix should be given a grand farewell. We will all remember her as not the fastest but as a woman who fought harder than she won.
