July 6, 2004 Felix, 18, Is Still Making the Adjustment From High School Star to Professional By LIZ ROBBINS
Pat Connolly took Allyson Felix, her quiet young sprinter, to the well-trodden track at Santa Monica College last month to train with two Olympic luminaries. It was not the first time that Connolly, who is Felix's coach, had taken her to Carol and Carl Lewis. Carl Lewis told Felix that she would soon be taking victory laps; he told her how to make eye contact while jogging around the track. But despite the encouragement, something did not seem right to the 18-year-old Felix that day, and it had not seemed right all year. She was no longer running carefree; she seemed to be a stressed professional in the body of a Southern California college freshman. She wanted to run as effortlessly fast as she used to, but she was becoming entangled in the cacophony of voices inside and around her. Suddenly, that day in Santa Monica, Felix could not breathe. Connolly said she thought it might be an anxiety attack, and Carol Lewis suggested it might be allergies. The Felix family doctor diagnosed it as exercise-induced asthma, Connelly said, and the doctor at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., agreed. Felix filled out the paperwork to use an inhaler, which is banned for use by track athletes unless prescribed by a doctor, and she started to feel better during workouts. "It's great to find out what was going on and have that all taken care of before the trials," Felix said last week from the training center, referring to the United States Olympic trials, which begin Friday in Sacramento. The rest is not such a quick fix. From health concerns to conflicting pressures and her own frustrations, Felix has had an uneven adjustment making the jump to the professional ranks from high school. Felix has struggled to live up to, and surpass, a race in May 2003, when she shattered her own United States junior record in the 200 meters. And her struggles illuminate a conflict inherent in track and field: patience and running fast do not peacefully coexist. Full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/sports/othersports/06felix.html?th
