Allyson Felix demonstrates that elite sport has virtues beyond trophies

By Shane Thomas

Many athletes have graced the Rio Olympics, but none have done so with as much grace as Allyson Felix. Looking for a fourth Olympic title last night, Felix finished second in the 400 metres, denied gold by Shaunae Miller's best Indiana Jones impersonation on the line.

"We sometimes project our problems onto sports", Louisa Thomas wrote: "But sports can also be, in some small but real ways, where we start to work them out." As Felix's career draws to an end (this will likely be her final Olympics), she will depart the scene not only as the most decorated woman in US track and field history, but as a conduit of something more profound.

Sport isn't something that's often thought of as beautiful. But the focus on competition, on winners and losers (while warranted; that is the point of it all) can obscure us from the beauty that pulses throughout sport, as there's beauty in self-expression and striving to show the best of oneself. This isn't the same type of beauty as produced by Margaret Attwood, Misty Copeland, Junot Diaz, Frida Kahlo, or Janelle Monae, but it doesn't have to be. There's room for it all....

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