Allyson Felix, 35, recently announced on Instagram that she is retiring this year. Throughout her career she has accomplished some major achievements.
Felix has 13 World Championships gold medals and seven Olympic gold medals — a total of 19 World medals and 11 Olympic medals.
In November 2018, Felix gave birth to her daughter, Camryn, stating that she “felt pressure to return to form as soon as possible”. Ultimately Felix had to undergo an immediate surgery due to severe pre-eclampsia, a serious medical condition possibly fatal to both mother and newborn. In May 2019, she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times, describing how Nike wished to pay her 70 percent less after having Camryn.
“I’ve always known that expressing myself could hurt my career. I’ve tried not to show emotion, to anticipate what people expect from me and do it. I don’t like to let people down. But you can’t change anything with silence,” she wrote in her New York Times opinion piece.
A few months later, Nike changed its maternal policy, announcing that, according to the Wall Street Journal, “it is adding language to new contracts for female athletes that will protect their pay during pregnancy”.
Not only is Felix a successful runner, but she is also a very committed activist who fights for maternal rights. This season she and her new primary sponsor, Athleta, partnered with non-profit organization & Mother to provide free childcare for athletes, coaches, and others at the 2022 U.S. National Championships in Oregon, which ran from June 23-26.
“I’m trying to leave the sport better than I found it, trying to support female athletes and women in general and fight for more equality,” she said.
Sources: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658070756181x712441272242676500/Allyson%20Felix_%20Five%20reasons%20the%20sprinter%20will%20forever%20be%20a%20legend%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/opinion/allyson-felix-pregnancy-nike.html
https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/news/feature/one-more-medal-as-allyson-felix-says-goodbye-to-the-world-athletics-championships
https://time.com/6189321/allyson-felix-free-childcare-athletes/
Felix has 13 World Championships gold medals and seven Olympic gold medals — a total of 19 World medals and 11 Olympic medals.
In November 2018, Felix gave birth to her daughter, Camryn, stating that she “felt pressure to return to form as soon as possible”. Ultimately Felix had to undergo an immediate surgery due to severe pre-eclampsia, a serious medical condition possibly fatal to both mother and newborn. In May 2019, she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times, describing how Nike wished to pay her 70 percent less after having Camryn.
“I’ve always known that expressing myself could hurt my career. I’ve tried not to show emotion, to anticipate what people expect from me and do it. I don’t like to let people down. But you can’t change anything with silence,” she wrote in her New York Times opinion piece.
A few months later, Nike changed its maternal policy, announcing that, according to the Wall Street Journal, “it is adding language to new contracts for female athletes that will protect their pay during pregnancy”.
Not only is Felix a successful runner, but she is also a very committed activist who fights for maternal rights. This season she and her new primary sponsor, Athleta, partnered with non-profit organization & Mother to provide free childcare for athletes, coaches, and others at the 2022 U.S. National Championships in Oregon, which ran from June 23-26.
“I’m trying to leave the sport better than I found it, trying to support female athletes and women in general and fight for more equality,” she said.
Sources: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658070756181x712441272242676500/Allyson%20Felix_%20Five%20reasons%20the%20sprinter%20will%20forever%20be%20a%20legend%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/opinion/allyson-felix-pregnancy-nike.html
https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/news/feature/one-more-medal-as-allyson-felix-says-goodbye-to-the-world-athletics-championships
https://time.com/6189321/allyson-felix-free-childcare-athletes/
