Allyson Felix's journey to GOAT status in track and field has been unlike any other
Allyson Felix’s Olympic career is officially over after her run in the women’s 400-meter final. From her first Olympics in Athens circa 2004 until now, she’s done nothing but make history.
So, of course, she made a little more of that to close her career out.
Felix is legitimately one of the greatest Olympians to ever touch a track — period. Man or woman. For the United States or otherwise. She solidified that with her last race.
Felix won the bronze medal in the women’s 400-meter final. And with that bronze medal, she now has 10 total Olympic medals, which ties her with Carl Lewis as the most for an American track and field athlete.
She’s also the first woman ever to win 10 medals in her career and the third track and field athlete to hit that 10-medal mark. Only Lewis and Finland’s Paavo Nurmi reached that mark before her.
That’s nothing but excellence right there.
Another medal for Allyson Felix pic.twitter.com/vFNrTWWVxQ
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 6, 2021
She knew what she did, too.
BRONZE FOR ALLYSON FELIX IN THE WOMEN’S 400M IN 49.46!
10TH OLYMPIC MEDAL!@allysonfelix now ties @Carl_Lewis for the most medals by a U.S. track and field athlete#TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/O5j77Dla8E
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) August 6, 2021
What a way to go out. At 35 years old, she made history. Cemented herself forever in the history books of the Olympics and track and field as a sport. You couldn’t ask for more.
This story becomes more remarkable when thinking about the path Felix took to get to this point. And it has almost nothing to do with what she’s done on the track.
Her biggest obstacle came outside of the sport. We could’ve lost her.
Felix got pregnant in 2018 and had a very traumatic childbirth experience where both she and her daughter, Camryn, were at risk. She was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, forcing her to undergo an emergency C-section at 32 weeks pregnant.
And while that was happening, she was also having trouble with Nike. The brand offered her a contract that was 70 percent less than she was paid previously, according to Felix, with no guaranteed figures if her performance declined due to her pregnancy.
Through all of that, Felix came out on top. She documented her entire experience in battling for maternity protections and shared it with The New York Times. Eventually, she left Nike and joined Athleta. Now, she has Saysh — her own footwear brand specifically for women.
Her outspokenness was a force for change at Nike. The backlash from her story led the company to remove contractual payment reductions for pregnant athletes and guarantee their salaries for 18-months post-pregnancy.
And in her final years on the track, Felix continues to use her platform to try and change people’s lives for the better. She joined a program called Better Starts For All, which is dedicated to battling maternal health issues for women — particularly Black women.
In an interview with NBC, she explained why she was so passionate about it.
“I was in that situation and I had great medical care. I just knew that other women, especially women of color, were also facing and at risk for the same thing. … And it just really opened my eyes to that.”
Felix is a superhero. Plain and simple.
In a sport where there have been many all-time greats that have come and gone, she’s cemented herself as one of them.
When folks talk about the greatest track athletes of all-time, most people talk about Usain Bolt. They also talk about Carl Lewis. And they’ll tell you about Florence Griffith-Joyner’s greatness.
The next time you have one of those conversations, though, make sure you talk about Allyson Felix. Both on and off of the track.