One of USC’s most illustrious alumni was given a highest honor on campus today while the University tries to right a wrong.
The renaming of the field was announced earlier this year after the old name was found to be politically incorrect.
It’s 2021, the Tokyo Olympics.
“And Allyson Felix gets her gold.”
Its 2023, outside the track and field stadium at USC. The name of this field is covered in red material. The Trojan Band is playing the fight song.
At just the right moment, the material drops, and we see the new name of USC’s Track and Field arena.
It’s Allyson Felix Field from now on, and Felix was there to celebrate!
Allyson Felix: You guys, thank you so much. This is overwhelming. It’s just such a full circle moment and everything everyone has said has just meant so much to me.
On a hazy morning it seemed to be another dreaded gloomy day in Southern California, but the clouds cleared creating a perfect spring day. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining. A crowd of notable USC administration and alumni gather under a tent outside USC’s track and field stadium.
Felix: I hope that I’ve contributed and I hope that I’ve left something behind. And I hope that student athletes come to this field and they come at the beginning of their journey and they experience something like I did coming, getting a foundation, being prepared to face the world. We don’t know what those challenges are going to be, but we know that they’re inevitable. And I think that this is such a special place to get you ready to take on those fights.
Felix is the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history, having earned 11 medals from five consecutive Olympic games.
Winning an Olympic medal as a mom, writing an op-ed for the New York Times, and fighting for womens right are just a few of Felix’s accomplishments. The 37 year old continues to be an advocate for women, athletes, and mothers.
Felix never ran for the USC Track Team, but she did graduate from the university..... with a degree in elementary education from Rossier.
Felix continues to visit USC and forge relationships with current Track and Field athletes. USC track star Gigi Maccagnini is from Austrailia and says Felix is not just a role model for the Trojan community.
Gigi Maccagnini: I can confirm that Allyson is a worldwide role model looked up to by Fast forward a few years and I find myself standing here with the honor of speaking about the woman I once and very much still admire. However, today I view it not only as the best athlete the world has seen, but also as the boldest and most inspirational woman the world has been blessed with.
Putting her degree to use, USC athletic director Mike Bohn, says Felix is a model Trojan.
Mike Bohn: Allyson serves as an extraordinary example of what we aim to be through her humility, competitive grit, sports and business acumen, but also her kindness, compassion and heart. The naming of this field is not just to honor Alison, but to inspire Trojans to achieve beyond the ordinary, to be a champion on and off the field, to stand for what is right with confidence and grace.
It seems to already be working.
Felix will continue to be a role model for current and former Trojans to come. 11 year old Sienna Cherry cannot wait to take a few laps on the newly named field.
Sienna Cherry: For my future. I hope I can do at least a fraction of what she did and maybe become maybe as quite important.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Hayes Flanagan.