All Alyson Felix could think about four years ago was today.
The Los Angeles, Calif. native was favored to win the women’s 200-meter race during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing but instead finished in second for silver.
Now Felix can finally celebrate as four years of patience and hard work paid off as she beat an array of star sprinters to win gold in the women’s 200-meter race on Aug. 8 during the 2012 Summer Games in London.
Felix won the race with a time of 21.88 seconds, edging Jamaican gold medal sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce by .21 seconds.
Fraser-Pryce had won gold in the 100-meter dash just a few days ago, beating both Felix and fellow American sprinter Carmelita Jeter, who finished just behind Fraser-Pryce for the silver. Jeter finished behind Fraser-Pryce again in the 200-meter for bronze.
Felix’s victory in the 200-meter puts an end to Jamaica’s dominance in sprint races so far during the Summer Games in London. Jamaica had won seven of the last eight Olympic sprint events before Felix’s win in the 200.
Team USA also added another gold medal on Aug. 8 after American hurdler Aries Merritt won the men’s 110-meter hurdles, the first Olympic gold medal of his track career.
Merritt won with a personal-best time finish of 12.92 seconds, beating out reigning world champion Jason Richardson, also of Team USA. Richardson took silver with a time of 13.04 seconds, while Jamaican Hansle Parchment finished with the bronze at 13. 12 seconds.
Merritt’s gold medal was the first track and field gold won by Americans so far in the 2012 Games in London, while Felix’s gold was the second.