Allyson Felix’s quest for history has turned into a shot at redemption

Not that other years haven’t been kind to Allyson Felix, but 2016 was supposed to be really special. After winning the 400 meters in Beijing at the 2015 World Championships, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 appeared ready to make history -- she expected to double in the 200 and 400 in Rio. In doing so, Felix would have joined the United States’ Michael Johnson (1996) and Valerie Brisco-Hooks (1984), plus Marie-José Pérec of France (1996) as the only 200-400 double winners.

Instead, Felix rolled her right ankle on a medicine ball in an April workout and was worried she might not even make the Olympic team. With torn ligaments in the ankle, she was forced to run counter clockwise on the track during training so as not to exacerbate the injury.

Still, she lined up in the 400 meters at July’s Olympic Trials and limped her way into the finals on July 3.

Halfway through the race, it appeared the 30-year-old’s dreams of making a fourth Olympic team were dashed -- even with 100 meters to go her chances seemed slim. Then she found her strength, roared to the front and won the race in a world-leading 49.68 seconds.

“It was probably not my most fun but it was one that probably means the most,” Felix said to reporters after the race. “It seems like things were hitting me left and right. I can’t put it into words. Somehow, some way, it happened.”

Felix was thrilled to make the Olympic team, but the injury finally caught up to her in the second half of her double. The speed just wasn’t there as Felix took fourth in the 200 meters on July 10, missing out on a spot in the 200 by 0.01 seconds.

“Honestly disappointed, you know?” Felix said afterward. “The whole year, that has been what I was working for.”

But the disappointment didn’t derail Felix, even if it left her searching for silver linings. And there is one: she still has a shot at gold.

“I didn’t cry. No. But I am very disappointed and it goes in waves. It hits at different times,” Felix said two days after the 200 during a series of in interviews in L.A. “I think waking up on Monday was probably the saddest, just realizing that it wasn’t going to happen.

“I think I just have to take the time to regroup and see the positives and see the new outlook. And I think that’s fine. It’s just going to look different than I imagined it, but that doesn’t have to be a negative thing.”

The new outlook is this: She can still take home two gold medals in Rio. She has the 400 and the 4x400 relay.

In the buildup to the Games, she’s getting treatment on the injured ankle while altering the training to make sure she’s ready for the 400, an event she’s still somewhat new to.

Felix is used to chasing medals. She has been in it since winning a silver medal in the 200 meters at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens as an 18-year-old. She followed that up with another silver in 2008 before finally taking home gold in London. Now she’ll chase her first Olympic medal in the 400 in Rio starting with the first round on Aug. 13. As long as she advances, she will race the semifinal on Aug. 14 and the final on Aug. 15. There, her toughest competition should come from Caster Semenya of South Africa, who will be the favorite in the 800 meters as well.

The double wasn’t meant to be for Felix, but a gold medal can be a nice consolation.