There have been many great female sprinting rivalries over the years (like Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce vs. Carmileta Jeter or Merlene Ottey vs. Gwen Torrence) but perhaps none better than Allyson Felix vs. Veronica Campbell-Brown. To me, a rivalry only really exists when athletes run on a similarly equal level which means that either can walk away with a win in a given race which was definitely the case with these two. They were both amazing competitors, running at the top of their game for so long, sustaining an exciting rivalry that made it difficult to predict who would come out on top. Between 2004-2012, it was only Veronica or Allyson topping the podium at major global championships with the other coming in second (outside of 2011 when Allyson took home bronze pursuing the 200m/400m double and 2012 when Veronica came in fourth). 

I have seen a lot of folks call out their times which perhaps by today's standards are not the fastest. It’s worth noting they both ran in the post-Balco era where times for female athletes rescinded and stagnated particularly in the 200m/400m. Between 2000-2015, Kerron Stewart was the only other female athlete to run sub 22 when she ran 21.99 once at the 2008 Jamaican Championships. When Allyson Felix ran 21.69 in the 2012 Olympic Trials, it was the first time a female athlete had run sub-21.7 since Merlene Ottey in 1991, ushering in a new era of elite 200m sprinting. 

Allyson's first head-to-head with Veronica was in Athens for the 2004 Olympics when she was 18. Veronica walked away with the first win with a time a 22.05 while Allyson ran 22.18, setting the junior record at the time. Allyson would go on to take the next two global medals, winning back-to-back World Titles. In 2007, she ran a pb of 21.81, completely gapping the field—noting that she also split 48.00 in the 4x400m that year. Her winning margin of 0.53 seconds is the largest margin of victory in a world championship final--it also remains the only time the women's 200 metres that has been won by more than half a second. This clearly lit a fire under Veronica who came back the next year with a massive new pb, running 21.74 to win her second Olympic Gold while Allyson took silver yet again with a time of 21.93.

Allyson, however, came back the following year to win her third 200m World Title in 2009 (to this day, she is still the only female athlete to have three 200m titles which she won consecutively). In 2011, Veronica took home her first 200m gold at a world championship while Allyson walked away with bronze (four medals overall including two relay golds). In 2012, Allyson set aside the 200m/400m double to do the 100m/200m double with Veronica (as well as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Carmelita Jeter). At trials, she ran a new pb of 21.69 and later took home her first Olympic Gold in a time of 21.88 (after setting a new 100m pb in one of the fastest female 100m finals of all-time where Veronica took home bronze). This was Allyson’s last 200m medal as she got injured in 2016 and failed to make the 200m Olympic team, losing to Jenna Pradini who dove and won by .01s--so ironic that Shanaue Miller-Uibo beat her in a similar fashion in the 400m final at the Rio Olympics. Veronica Campbell-Brown would go on to win one more bronze 200m medal in 2015 with a time of 21.97 at age 33. 

When you juxtapose their stats/accomplishments, you can see how they both pushed and refined the other for nearly a decade across global championship (which to me makes it one of the greatest track rivalries of all-time, male or female). Allyson Felix edges out Veronica as far as times and accolades--I'll never forget when the "Final Leg" choose Veronica over Allyson as the greatest 200m sprinter which was a choice they later amended--but Veronica is another one of the undeniable GOATs that have helped to maintain the ongoing sprint rivalry between the u.s. and Jamaica.

I say all of this thinking about the newfound rivalry between Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Julian Alfred who both seem to have so much more untapped potential and who I look forward to witnessing in the years to come. Will they become the new "Allyson and Veronica"? Who are some of your favorite female track rivalries? I noticed the previous thread on this was absolutely male-dominated and would love to hear other thoughts on female track athletes (doesn't need to just be sprinting).

The greatest female sprinting rivalry of all-time!