Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Aug 08: Allyson Felix seems to float above the track. As the 17-year-old speeds past opponents, photos capture her literally running on air with both feet several inches off the ground.
Her rise to the top echelon of sprinters has been just as mesmerising. Virtually unknown outside her Los Angeles High School a year ago, Felix is on the cusp of stardom as she prepares for the world championships later this month.
And a year from now, she could be one of the featured athletes at the 2004 Olympics especially if she ends up racing against returning Mum Marion Jones in the 200 metres.
That's quite a leap for a runner just a few weeks out of High school who didn't take up track until ninth grade.
"It's a dream and always in the back of my mind. I can totally visualise it," she said this week at the Pan American games in the Dominican Republic. "It's going to be very special, Lord Willing, and obviously it would be the beginning of my career."

Only months ago, Felix was preparing for her senior track season at Los Angeles Baptist High. She was little known outside California track circles until this spring.

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In April, she ran the 200 m in 22.51 seconds to break Jones' 11-year-old national high school record and beat a field including 1999 world champion Inger Miller. Two weeks later, she ran 22.11 at a meet in Mexico City, the fastest time by any woman this year.

That Mexico City time was faster than every winning time at the Olympics through 1976, and was .01 seconds quicker than the 1996 gold medal-winning time of France's Marie Jose Perec.
Bureau Report