Revered Track and Field Star Shares Insights on Navigating Motherhood and Athletic Excellence
Allyson Felix is the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history, winning medals across five Olympic Games from 2004 to 2020. The Los Angeles native boasts 31 global medals at the Olympics and World Championships, and titles as both a World Record Holder and a Master’s World Record Holder.
Nicknamed “Chicken Legs” in high school for her slender build, she burst onto the scene at 18, winning Olympic 200m silver in 2004. Her signature events became the 200m (three Olympic golds) and 4x400m relay. Off the track, Felix advocated for maternal rights after Nike pressured her post-pregnancy in 2019.
Last month, she was the featured speaker at the Women’s Foundation of Alabama Unleashed event, which took place in downtown Birmingham in a room full of powerful women—philanthropists, policy advocates, and business owners—dedicated to the mission of providing resources to empower women across Alabama. She shared a potent message on womanhood, navigating mental health, and making an impact.
“It really all began when I wanted to become a mother. I always wanted to be a mother,” Felix told the women gathered for the event. “It was ever since I was a little girl, I had that desire. But there was a lot of fear for me to move into motherhood, and it really stemmed from what I had seen. I had watched teammates and colleagues of mine really struggle through motherhood.”
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“I had watched them hide pregnancies. I had watched them lose sponsorship. I had watched them really having a difficult time. And so I felt like maybe if I accomplish enough, then that won’t be my same fate. And so I waited until I had gone to four Olympic Games. I had six Olympic gold medals, and I felt like, ‘okay, I think I’m in a safe place.’”
Dozens of changemakers, champions, and advocates who support WFA’s critical research, policy advocacy, and groundbreaking philanthropic efforts that empower women across Alabama attended last week’s event at the Haven. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)
Felix had begun preliminary contract negotiations even before disclosing her pregnancy, and, to her dismay, she was being offered 70% less than what she had previously been making.
“And that was just like a gut punch. And so that led me to do what so many women who came before me did. I hid my pregnancy … I started training in the dark. I would go to the track at 4 o’clock in the morning when no one was out there,” Felix shared with the crowd. “I stayed in my house for most of my pregnancy. I wore baggy clothes.”
She went on to testify before Congress, and amid public outcry, Nike announced a new maternity policy for all sponsored athletes in August 2019, guaranteeing athletes’ pay and bonuses for 18 months around pregnancy. She would go on to launch her own footwear brand, Saysh, and secure maternal-focused partnerships with Pampers. Now retired since 2022, she remains a global icon for performance, resilience, and equity in women’s sports, which resonated with the largest female audience gathered.
The Women’s Foundation of Alabama has invested over $11 million in supporting groups aligned with its mission of equity and change, much like Felix’s powerful agency, which advocates for fair compensation. The organization has an ambitious goal of moving 10,000 Alabama women into the workforce by 2027.
“Sitting back and listening to the mission in the work that is being done here, it just really touches my heart,” Felix said. “I just deeply relate to all the work that’s been done. From breaking barriers and accelerating opportunity for women, gender, race, and place, all of those things are near and dear to my heart … It feels really great to be in a room with my people tonight.”
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