Félix Sánchez Athlete
Félix Sánchez (born on August 30, 1977) —nicknamed Super Felix, the Invincible and the Dictator— is a track and field athlete from New York City, United States who competes for The Dominican Republic. Sánchez's event is the 400 meter hurdles, in which he won the first ever Olympic gold medal for the Dominican Republic on August 28, 2004 during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Although Sánchez was born in the United States, his parents were born in the Dominican Republic, and he has competed for that country since 1999. He graduated from University City High School in San Diego, California. In 1999, Sanchez was a Pac-10 champion (400 m hurdles) and All-American relay champion (1600 m) at the University of Southern California, where he majored in psychology. Between 2001 and 2004 he won 43 races in a row at 400 m hurdles, including the 2001 and 2003 World Championships. He won a share of the Golden League million dollar-jackpot in 2002 after winning all 7 races. At the 2003 Pan American Games, Sánchez won the Dominican Republic's first gold medal at the competition and also broke the Pan American Games record in the 400 m hurdles. He was named Track and Field News Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2003. During his 43-race winning streak, from 2001 to 2004, Sánchez was known for wearing a wristband while competing. The red flashing wristband, a souvenir from the 2000 Olympics, served as a motivation for him after failing to advance to the final in Sydney. After winning the Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004, Sánchez gave the wristband to the IAAF for auction and the profits were donated to charity. In his first race after the Olympics - and his first race without the wristband - at the Van Damme Memorial meet in Brussels, Sánchez injured his leg and had to abandon the race halfway through.
