The American sprinter has the most medals in Olympic and world championship history and has her sights set on Tokyo 2020

Women are definitely not seen in the same light as men, especially in the sporting world,” says Allyson Felix, with a clarity and directness every bit as startling as the speed she will display over 150m in Manchester on Friday night. “There are so many women – Serena Williams springs immediately to mind – who are never fully appreciated for what they do, and I hope that changes for the next generation.”

Felix has more first-hand experience than most. After all, she has won an astonishing 25 Olympic and world championship medals (including 17 golds), more than any athlete in history. It puts her ahead of Merlene Ottey on 23 and Usain Bolt on 21. Yet crashing into the mainstream has proved a tougher challenge. Perhaps times are changing. In March, ESPN magazine lauded her as one of the 20 most dominant athletes of the century. And on Friday, Felix will be the headline act at the Great CityGames – with close to 10,000 people expected to see her sprint along a pop-up track in Deansgate. Many of those will be accidental watchers, heading home from work or making an early beeline for the pub, but the American intends to convert one or two to the sport she loves.

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“I think it is a great event – mostly because we get to interact with people who wouldn’t necessarily go to a stadium to watch track,” she says. “So I’m looking to get out there and enjoy myself.”

Not that it will be easy given she is up against Marie Ta Lou, the Ivorian sprinter who took silver over 100m and 200m at last year’s world championships in London, along with British athletes Cheriece Hylton and Bianca Williams who are largely there to make up the numbers.

And while some might expect Felix to be slowing down at 32, she believes she can take a leaf out of Roger Federer’s book by taking it easier this year in order to prepare herself for the buildup to Tokyo 2020, where she hopes not only to compete in her fifth Olympics but win more gold medals.

That would be some achievement. It was back in 2004 that Felix emerged on to the track and field scene by winning Olympic 200m silver in Athens, aged 19. Yet she keeps managing to hit the high notes across multiple events, including the 200m, 400m, 4x100m and 4x400m.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Allyson Felix: ‘The next couple of years are going to be really intense’. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

“It is about getting smarter,” she says. “I have also been fortunate not to have too many injuries. But I’m making sure my body gets some rest in 2018 because I know the next couple of years will be really intense.”

It helps too that she is still smarting after falling short of her goals at last year’s worlds in London. For while she won two golds as part of the US 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams, she could only trot away with bronze in the individual 400m after going out too fast and burning up on a bitterly cold and wet August night.

“I never want to be satisfied with losing and I don’t feel that will ever change,” she says. “It is who I am. I am a competitor. I have always been that way, and always will be.”

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Yet there is an obvious sensitive side to Felix too. When asked about the IAAF’s decision to make athletes with very high testosterone take medication to compete in events between 400m and a mile, for instance, she expresses her unease on the way it was done – and the impact on athletes such as Caster Semenya.

“It’s a complex issue but I feel the way it was handled probably wasn’t the best. There were issues with the way that it was imposed, and with the different events and the individuals who were targeted.”

When asked whether she has sympathy for athletes such as Semenya she nods. “Definitely. These are our fellow competitors, athletes and friends.”

Felix has another mission that is nearly as important as her athletics career: working with charities to improve children’s lives. She is particularly proud to be an ambassador for the global humanitarian organisation Right To Play, which has led to her travelling to countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, Palestine, and clearly made a deep impact.

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“I get to run for a living, and that’s great and fun,” Felix says. “But the work that Right to Play does is so much more important. I remember going into a refugee camp in Lebanon, for instance, and speaking to a young girl who had been helped to set up a soccer league. Just seeing the confidence that she had was amazing.”

Felix also enjoyed being part of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, which urged American families to become more active. So is Michelle as cool as everyone thinks? “She definitely is,” she says. “She is one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet – and just so relatable that she just resonates with everyone.”

Is there any chance she could persuade her to run for president in the future? “I wish,” Felix replies, laughing. “But I don’t think she’s having it.”

The Obamas are now out of office, but Felix intends to carry on using her status to empower women through sport in other ways. “I am really trying to change traditional perceptions,” she says. “We need girls to know that strong is beautiful, and to get them participating and doing their best, whatever they do. I hope we are moving in the right direction. But there is definitely a way to go.”