--- description: Find out why Allyson Felix is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Allyson Felix: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e11f92ac4fcba70/698a1ca6656a3f98aabdb99e/allyson-felix-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 14, 2021 # Allyson Felix by Michelle Kwan  Djeneba Aduayom for TIME I met [Allyson Felix](https://time.com/6077124/allyson-felix-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined") when we were both appointed by President Obama to be members of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. We hit it right off, and through our work on the council we became fast friends. She’s said that she hopes to compete with character and humility, knowing that her daughter and generations of young girls and boys are watching her. She’s thoughtful, generous and knows she has the responsibility of being a role model for girls and boys who look up to her. I think Allyson sets an extraordinary example as a [mother](https://time.com/6077124/allyson-felix-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined"), as a woman and as an athlete. She has already paved the way in so many areas, including fighting for new maternity policies that will help the next generation of mothers and athletes. That will have a ripple effect that goes on forever. She is passing on the baton to the next generation, and it was great to see that in front of your eyes in the 4 × 400-m relay in Tokyo, where she and the team took home the gold. That medal made Allyson [the most decorated U.S. track-and-field athlete](https://time.com/6087984/allyson-felix-tokyo-olympics-400-m/ "undefined") of all time. I anticipate and expect that she will continue to follow her heart to do great things, some of which will probably be more meaningful than what she has accomplished in sports, as incredible as those feats and those medals are. This is just the beginning for her. _Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist and a five-time world-champion figure skater_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096046/allyson-felix-titan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096046/allyson-felix-titan/"},"headline":"Allyson Felix","datePublished":"2021-09-14T18:26:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:57.660Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096046/allyson-felix-titan/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e11f92ac4fcba70/698a1ca6656a3f98aabdb99e/allyson-felix-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e11f92ac4fcba70/698a1ca6656a3f98aabdb99e/allyson-felix-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096046/allyson-felix-titan/","name":"Allyson Felix"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tokyo Olympics: Allyson Felix","description":"Allyson Felix's fifth return to the Olympics was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She talks to TIME about her decision to still pursue the games, what it was like to train with her family during lockdown, and how she hopes to inspire her daughter by leaving her sport better than she found it.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fS74F9Ce/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-07-08T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fS74F9Ce.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096046/allyson-felix-titan/","duration":"PT3M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096046/allyson-felix-titan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```