Just this April, track and field athlete Allyson Felix announced her retirement. According to ABC, this award-winning sprinter won her 36th but last medal in April.
At age 18, Felix collected her first medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning a silver. At the Tokyo Olympic games just last year, Felix won a bronze. When the athlete retired in April, she had won 36 medals, 19 World Championships, and 11 Olympic medals—7 of which are golds.
Not only is she a sprinter, but Felix is also an advocate for Black maternal rights. In 2018, when she was pregnant, Felix discovered she had pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition that can be dangerous to both mother and child. Eight weeks later, the soon-to-be mother gave birth to her daughter Camryn prematurely. Because of pre-eclampsia, Camryn stayed in the ICU for the first month of her life.
After undergoing a near-death situation whilst giving birth, Felix delivered a speech at the US Congress regarding her experience and the racial bias in the US healthcare system.
“We need to provide women of color with more support during their pregnancies. There’s a level of racial bias within our healthcare system that is troubling and will be difficult to tackle, but that doesn’t mean we should,” she said.
Felix is also an activist for women’s rights. In 2019, the athlete wrote an article for The New York Times regarding how Nike plans to pay her 70 percent less now that she became a mother. Felix’s voice was powerful and was bound to bring change; three months later, Nike changed its policies so that maternity would not affect an athlete’s salary.
Aside from being one of the best track and field athletes across the world, Felix is also an activist who bettered the lives of women everywhere. And this is why, in our hearts, Felix will forever be the GOAT.
At age 18, Felix collected her first medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning a silver. At the Tokyo Olympic games just last year, Felix won a bronze. When the athlete retired in April, she had won 36 medals, 19 World Championships, and 11 Olympic medals—7 of which are golds.
Not only is she a sprinter, but Felix is also an advocate for Black maternal rights. In 2018, when she was pregnant, Felix discovered she had pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition that can be dangerous to both mother and child. Eight weeks later, the soon-to-be mother gave birth to her daughter Camryn prematurely. Because of pre-eclampsia, Camryn stayed in the ICU for the first month of her life.
After undergoing a near-death situation whilst giving birth, Felix delivered a speech at the US Congress regarding her experience and the racial bias in the US healthcare system.
“We need to provide women of color with more support during their pregnancies. There’s a level of racial bias within our healthcare system that is troubling and will be difficult to tackle, but that doesn’t mean we should,” she said.
Felix is also an activist for women’s rights. In 2019, the athlete wrote an article for The New York Times regarding how Nike plans to pay her 70 percent less now that she became a mother. Felix’s voice was powerful and was bound to bring change; three months later, Nike changed its policies so that maternity would not affect an athlete’s salary.
Aside from being one of the best track and field athletes across the world, Felix is also an activist who bettered the lives of women everywhere. And this is why, in our hearts, Felix will forever be the GOAT.
